What Does the Future Hold
by Fizzy2310
Summary: Harry Potter and the gang are finishing up after a DA lesson one day when Harry discovers a package of seven books and a note telling them to wait in the Room of Requirement for more people to arrive. What's the purpose of this gathering, you ask? Well, read on and see!
1. Prologue

Note: Everything in bold belongs to J.K. Rowling as well as the characters, places and names. This goes for the whole book.

This is my first fanfiction so please be nice but I would love some constructive criticism!

Just to tell you where we are in the Harry Potter books, Harry's in his fifth year, he does Occlumency but he hasn't seen Snape's memory. The DA has started as has the Inquisitorial Squad. The DA have practised Expecto Patronum.

Thanks,

Fizzy

**Prologue **

Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Luna and Neville were packing up after a DA lesson discussing how it went.

"Do you think they all understood the swish and flick of Wingardium Leviosa?" Harry asked the others, putting some Defence Against the Dark Arts books away.

Hermione sighed. "Of course you were Harry. We couldn't have a better teacher. Besides everyone should have learnt that in their first year."

"Well, Nigel's only turning twelve in a week."

"Come on guys, the coast is clear," Ginny gestured for them to follow her out. Luna and Neville went to stand by her.

"Wait a second, I need to finish putting these away," Harry said. "Hey, what are these?"

He held up pack of seven books.

"Dunno, never seen them before." Ron didn't even bother looking at them.

Ginny rolled her eyes. "Well, of course you haven't. You never been near a bookshelf." Luna giggled and Neville chuckled until Ron glared at them.

Harry had no idea this was going on. He was too busy opening the envelope on the pack of books.

_Dear Harry,_

_This may be very confusing and maybe quite disturbing but this is your future self here. All of us in the future think it is important for you and your friends to read these books. Hermione turned my memories into books, and somehow the Muggles got them. They went completely gaga over them and made movies (basically a lot of moving pictures) out of them! Anyway, these books contain your life from 1-36. Don't worry if this is confusing, when everyone on the back of this letter are present I will explain more. Now you need to go outside the Room of Requirement and close the door. Wait until the door has faded away then pace up and down through times thinking I need a place to talk to lots of people. Take Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Neville and Luna with you. Once you are inside just wait there for everyone to arrive. They should be there rather quickly as most of them are already on their way as they have been forewarned. _

_Before you do what I have instructed you to do, I would like you to quickly write back to me and say if you would like to know who you all marry. If you do once everyone is there I'll send another letter with the required information. _

_Wishing you well,_

_Harry J. Potter_

_P.S. I have some surprise people coming so they won't be on the list. Hope you enjoy the surprise!_

"What are you reading Harry?" Luna asked.

"Some letter about me from me."

Ron chuckled. "Been sending yourself letters now, mate?"

Harry shot him a dirty look. "It's from my future self."

At that Ron stopped laughing and looked surprised while Hermione grabbed the letter out of Harry's hands.

"Let me see that." Hermione read quickly mouthing the words as she read. Once she finished she flipped the parchment over and frowned.

"There's nothing there. How do we know who is coming?"

Harry frowned as well. "Yes there are. I can see names on the back."

"Maybe it's enchanted so only you can read it. Well, go on then. Read it to us!" Hermione pushed the parchment back into his hands.

"Uh… Okay. The names are: Harry Potter, Ronald Weasley, Hermione Granger, Ginevra Weasley, Neville Longbottom, Luna Lovegood, Fred Weasley, George Weasley, Arthur Weasley, Molly Weasley, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Alastor Moody, Albus Dumbledore, Minerva McGonagall, Severus Snape and Draco Malfoy."

"Why do Snape and Malfoy need to come?" Ron groaned.

"Look on the bright side," Harry told him, "If Dumbledore's here and these books tell a heap of bad things about both of them and we turn out to be right, he can't not believe us."

"Oh, yeah. Anyway let's get going."

"Ginny, is there anyone outside?"

Ginny stuck her head round the door. "Nope, still good."

All six of them crept out and let the door close behind them.

"Alright," Harry said. "Stand back." The others took a couple of steps back while Harry paced up and down three times. After the third he stopped walking and looked up expectantly. A door was starting to carve itself into the wall. Ginny and Hermione looked at each other excitedly.

Harry pushed the door and it creaked loudly as it opened.

Hermione pulled out her wand. "_Tergeo_." The door stopped creaking. Harry looked at her appreciatively before going inside.

The interior was completely different to the DA room. Harry figured they were standing in the living room which had a lot of plush black leather sofas all grouped in a circle plus a couple of coffee tables in the middle.

As Harry walked over to the sofas a letter appeared on the coffee tables in a flash of white light. Blinded momentarily, Harry staggered over to the tables.

He placed the pack of books on the centre table before picking up the letter.

"_Dear Harry_," he read aloud, "_Now that you are inside the Room, people will start arriving. Once everyone is there ask around to see if they want to know what happens to everybody in the future and send your answer on the back of this letter. The surprise will arrive last. _

_Harry J. Potter_

_P.S. Whilst inside the Room of Requirement time stands still so don't worry, you won't miss anything_

_P.S.S. Don't worry about food, the house-elves are busy because apparently food's one of the five exceptions to Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration. Don't give Hermione credit for this, it's pure Ron._

_P.S.S.S. The books are to be read in this order:_

_- Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone_

_- Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets_

_- Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban_

_- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire_

_- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix_

_- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince_

_- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows._"

"Huh, so it's like every mystery you've ever solved. Philosopher's Stone, we did that in our first year. Chamber of Secrets, second year. Prisoner of Azkaban, that's Sirius. Goblet of Fire, the Triwizard Tournament and Order of the Phoenix, that's this year. But we haven't lived the other two. Though I don't like the idea of house-elves catering for us," Hermione murmured as the door to the Room opened and Sirius and Remus clambered in, beaming.

"Sirius!" Harry said joyfully running over to hug him.

"How you going, Bambi?"

"Bambi?" Harry pulled away, blushing, while Hermione giggled. Ron, Ginny, Neville and Luna looked at her surprised, not knowing the Muggle story.

"Yeah, 'cos your dad was Prongs so you had to have a name too. I wanted Prongs Junior but Moony said no."

"Sorry, mate, but I just don't think he suits it," Remus said hoarsely.

"How are you, Remus?" Harry asked.

"Fine, fine. Been trying to recruit some werewolves but Greyback has nearly all of them. It's becoming quite dangerous at the moment. Anyway, how are you all? Still top of the class, Hermione? Giving Snape as much grief as possible in Potions, Harry and Ron? And Ginny, I suppose you're just as good at the Bat Bogey Hex as last time I saw you. Hello Neville. Luna isn't it?"

Luna and Neville both smiled at Sirius and Remus.

"Come sit down," Harry beckoned for them to take a seat.

"Not so fast, Potter," Snape entered the room with Draco at his heels.

"Snivellus," Sirius greeted Snape with a smirk.

"Padfoot," Remus warned.

"No, Remus, it's fine. I haven't seen old Snivelly for a while," Sirius pulled out his wand.

"Sirius!" Dumbledore had arrived and he was looking at Sirius sternly. "I thought I had you two shake on it?" he said has Professor McGonagall slipped inside behind him with Tonks trailing after her.

"Ah, Dumbledore, Minerva, Tonks. It's nice to see you again," Remus shook their hands.

"Isn't that why I elected you as prefect, Remus? To keep James and Sirius in line?" Dumbledore now looked at Lupin with his clear, blue gaze.

"Sorry, sir," Remus looked at his feet. Dumbledore chuckled.

"There's no need to call me 'sir', Remus. You graduated twenty years ago."

Remus started to reply when Mrs Weasley's voice drifted towards them.

"Now, what did the letter say? Pace up and down three times."

"We know, mum," the twins chorused.

Smiling, Tonks turned around and opened the door for them.

"Ah, Tonks," Mr Weasley said. "Good to see you. Oh, are we late?"

"Not at all, Arthur. We're still waiting on Alastor," Dumbledore smiled.

Clunk. Clunk. Clunk.

"Moody!" Tonks looked excited to see another Auror.

"Nymphadora," Moody grunted.

"It's Tonks!" Her hair turned red in indignation.

"Tonks. It's okay. Alastor's just joking," Remus reassured her. Moody sure didn't look like he was joking to Harry.

"Before we start reading, does everyone want to know who we marry and all that stuff?" Harry asked.

A few people smiled and nodded while the rest looked disgruntled, including Ron.

Dumbledore cleared his throat. "How about we say yes and ask future Harry to send who people marry, their kids and who dies but we read it after the last book in case it doesn't say in the books."

Everyone nodded and looked happy apart from Moody whose face was still set in a frown. Harry started to write the letter back to future Harry.

"Lighten up, Moody," Tonks nudged him in the side. To everyone's surprise Moody let out a bark of laughter.

Remus smiled. "Well done, Tonks. You've achieved the unachievable. Make Moody laugh by tickling him!" Everyone laughed and Tonks blushed and looked up at Remus shyly.

"I just realised something," said Hermione slowly. "If these letters are from future Harry, doesn't that mean that we defeated Voldemort?"

"Not necessarily," Harry told her. "It doesn't say how far in the future this Harry is. He could be a one or two years in the future and Voldemort could still be alive."

"Yes, but the letter said that these books has your life recorded from one to _thirty-six_. And he also said if you want to find out who you marry –"

"Look, Hermione, we could still be trying to defeat Voldemort when I'm thirty-six and it didn't specifically say _me_ for the marrying bit. It could refer to all pure-bloods. I bet he did something twisted there. Anyway, I'm just saying, don't get your hopes up," he finished.

"Come on, Potter. Have you finished that letter yet?" McGonagall tutted.

Sirius also let out a bark of laughter. "Minnie, Minnie. It's not school, don't rush him. Or are you just eager to start the books? I know you always love a good book."

McGonagall glared at him. "I never gave you permission to use my first name and I don't have a nickname so don't call me Minnie!" Everyone cowered under McGonagall's lethal words and stare except Dumbledore who chuckled to himself.

"Sorry, Professor. I'll send the letter now," Harry said obediently.

"Good," Dumbledore said. "I suggest we all sit down and Harry can read the latest letter he received to all of us while we wait for the letter with the information of everyone's spouses to arrive." Everyone rushed to the sofas to sit next to their friends. Harry found himself wedged between Sirius and Remus.

"Okay, everybody ready? This is the last letter:

_Dear Harry,_

_Now that you are inside the Room, people will start arriving. Once everyone is there ask around to see if they want to know what happens to everybody in the future and send your answer on the back of this letter. "The surprise will arrive last."_

"Surprise? What surprise? I don't like surprises," Moody grumbled.

"Oh, didn't you get that in your letter?" Harry asked. Everyone shook their heads.

"Well, I have no idea what it is so we have to wait for it before we can start reading.

_Harry J. Potter_

_P.S. Whilst inside the Room of Requirement time stands still so don't worry, you won't miss anything._"

"Phew! That's a relief! I was worried about you missing school, Bambi! Especially those important Potions lessons with a certain slime ball!" Sirius grinned at Harry. Several people laughed while Snape shot daggers at Sirius with his eyes and Malfoy looked totally confused.

"SIRIUS!" Dumbledore's voice boomed and the room instantly fell silent. "I thought you agreed!"

"Well, you see sir, I only agreed to lay aside old differences and trust him."

"And you seem to be the only one violating that request and so I must ask you again to do that very same thing that you did at the end of last year. Shake hands."

This time Snape protested, "Surely, Headmaster, we don't need to go through that again? I mean, Black was only having fun." Sirius' mouth fell open as Snape made an excuse for him.

"Very well, Severus but Sirius I'm warning you, one more peep and you'll wish you were never born. I have never like that threat so I'm sorry I have to use it. Harry, please continue."

"_P.S.S. Don't worry about food, the house-elves are busy because apparently food's one of the five exceptions to Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration. Don't give Hermione credit for this, it's pure Ron._

_P.S.S.S. The books are to be read in this order:_

_- Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone_

_- Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets_

_- Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban_."

"That's me!" Sirius beamed before Remus hushed him, looking over at Dumbledore warily.

_- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire_

_- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix_

"Just so everyone knows, that's the book we're up to in this time.

"_- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince_."

"Excuse me?" Snape asked a disbelieving look on his face. "Please repeat that last one."

"Um… _Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince_."

Snape swore under his breath before looking up and nodding for Harry to continue.

_- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows_."

It was Dumbledore's turn now. "What was that last one?"

"_The Deathly Hallows_."

So it was true, Dumbledore thought, the boy does learn everything: the flaw in the plan, the hallows and possibly even whatever Tom Riddle told Horace all those years ago in his office.

A bright white light suddenly appeared around the coffee tables. Shielding his eyes, Harry stumbled forward to pick up the letter that had just appeared.

"Got it," Harry lifted the letter so everyone could see it.

"Don't open it yet. Put it in your robes and we'll read it at the end," Dumbledore said.

"Now we're just waiting for the surprise," Harry commented.

Suddenly another light filled the room and two more people arrived.

The effect that these two people had on the rest of the room was amusing. For a moment Dumbledore looked stunned before chuckling to himself, Sirius yelped but looked very happy, Remus' jaw fell open, Harry felt the happiest he had ever been, Hermione and the Weasleys gaped and Snape sat as stiff as a board.

For a moment there was silence then –

"PRONGS!" Sirius had jumped out of his chair and grabbed James around his midsection and tackled him to the floor. Remus quickly followed suite. Lily looked amused as they rolled around at her feet until she looked up and saw her son staring at her.

In a few strides she had crossed the room and pulled him into a tight embrace.

"Mum," Harry whispered.

"Harry. It's been so long. Too long." She drew back, her eyes roaming all over her grown up son. Fourteen years ago was the last time she had seen him.

Harry felt another pair of arms pull him into a hug. He looked up and saw his father beaming down at him.

"I've missed you, Harry," James grinned at him. Over James' shoulder he saw Hermione start to cry. Harry felt so happy to be in his parent's arms again.

Suddenly Lily stiffened. Harry followed her gaze to Snape who was staring right back. In a second she had strode across the room to stand before him.

"Sev?" Lily asked tentatively.

"Lily?" Snape asked back, taking a step forward.

Lily hesitantly stepped back. "Are you still with Voldemort?"

Snape shook his head quickly. "Of course not!"

James snorted, "I bet you are. You were clamouring to be a Death Eater the moment you left school!"

"James," Lily chided gently. Turning back to Snape she asked, "Give me your arm."

Snape looked confused but placed his right arm in her hand.

Lily sighed and shook her head. "The other one."

Realisation dawned on him but he laid his arm in her hand. Gently she tugged up his sleeve to reveal the Dark Mark burned into his flesh. Snape winced as Lily sighed.

"Why Sev?"

"I thought he was going to win. I was going to take you over with me. You wouldn't have had to die. I'm sorry," Snape said quietly.

James grunted. "Like you ever doing it for her! You were always too proud to be around Muggle-borns! Like Mulciber! Like Malfoy!"

Draco cleared his throat loudly, "That's my father you're talking about."

James did a double-take. "Oh, dear Merlin! There's another one! Why are you here? Are you friends with Harry?" At the last question he spun around to face Harry.

"Not in a million dragon years!" Harry choked out.

James nodded appreciatively. "Good. I remember Lucius Malfoy was so damn proud of himself!"

Lily laughed, "Quite like someone else we know, hey James?"

James grinned, "I 'spose. But he was stupid proud. Like when Arthur Weasley bungee-jumped him off the edge of the Astronomy Tower with his underpants, he told everyone that someone used Polyjuice Potion to look like him."

Mr Weasley went beet red and the four present Weasley children turned to their father in shock.

"Ah, Arthur. Didn't see you there old chap. Back to bungee-jumping, we did it again but with –" James found a hand clapped over his mouth. Remus quickly whispered something in his ear.

"Oh, yeah. I probably shouldn't tell them that. Anyway, I feel like going for a run. You up for it, Padfoot?" James caught Sirius' eye and they both grinned. In a second they were both in their Animagus forms chasing each other round the room. Sirius' dog form stopped at Harry and licked his hand.

Harry laughed as James trotted up and give him a gentle prod in the back with his antlers.

"Hey Prongs," Harry said. Then an idea hit him. He raised his wand and shouted, "_Expecto Patronum_!" The stag surged out of his wand and cantered around with the other two.

Harry heard two other shouts of "_Expecto Patronum_" and turned to see Ron's terrier chasing Hermione's otter. They were both laughing as they too chased each other. Soon wands were appearing all over the room. A phoenix burst from Dumbledore's wand. A tabby cat slinked out of McGonagall's. Identical tigers with mischievous eyes leapt from Fred and George's wands. Tonks smiled as her chameleon tried to blend in with the surroundings. The wolf and the dog of Remus and Sirius were wrestling together in the middle of the room. Mrs Weasley's Patronus was a hummingbird that flew high above their heads and Mr Weasley's weasel was looking up at it, confused. An old looking eagle soared from Moody's wand. Neville's badger and Luna's hare were chasing Ginny's horse.

The only people who hadn't cast their Patronus were James, Lily, Snape and Malfoy.

"C'mon mum, dad! This is fun!" Harry yelled as his stag raced Ginny's horse around the room.

Lily grinned and shouted, "_Expecto Patronum_!" Her doe bounded out of her wand and Harry's stag, which was about the same size as the doe, stopped racing the horse and nuzzled her affectionately before springing off after Dumbledore's phoenix.

James was still captivated by all the Patronuses and hadn't cast his. Snape meanwhile was trying to talk himself into it. In the end he pulled his wand from his robes and muttered the charm. His doe bounced over to Lily's doe and blinked its large eyes. Lily's doe blinked back and soon they were playing with each other. Before he could stop himself, Snape felt a smile stretch across his face or what seemed the first time since he was born.

James, noticing Snape's actions and his Patronus, drew his wand and he too yelled the incantation. Everyone turned to watch as James' stag flew out of his wand and landed gracefully next to Lily's doe. Snape's doe backed off warily as James' stag advanced on him slightly baring his teeth. Lily's doe was peering out from behind him and Harry's stag had also come to stand next to his mother.

All the Patronuses faded away as they lost concentration.

There was a silence before Ron said, "Well, that was interesting."

Lily had turned to Snape and asked in a quiet voice, "Why is it still a doe? Haven't you moved on yet?" Snape didn't answer nor did he meet her eyes.

Lily groaned. "_Come on_ Sev! I'm not the only woman in the world!"

"It's still a doe because I regret my decisions."

"What decision?"

"About the prophecy." Now Snape was definitely not meeting her eyes. The Order members around the room tensed.

Moody cleared his throat, "That's not information you have permission to give away, Snape. Only Dumbledore has that." Snape lifted his eyes questioningly to Dumbledore.

Dumbledore nodded. "They deserve to know. If you're ready. Just tell them about what you did, not what was in the prophecy."

Snape turned back to Lily. "I heard something. Something I shouldn't have. At that time I was still a Death Eater. I went to the Dark Lord. Told him what was in it. Two years later, he attacked. He killed two people in that family. The third survived. But not without a mark of the Dark Lord's act." Nearly every pair of eyes swivelled to the scar on Harry's forehead.

A sharp sound rang through the air. Snape was holding his cheek and Lily had her hand raised.

"How dare you?" she hissed. "You told me that as if you were reporting the weather! Have you no heart! No wonder you were Death Eater you fit right in!"

"Lily please! I told you all that because I regret my decisions. And you know exactly why," Snape mumbled the last bit to his feet.

"Still?"

"Always," Snape whispered.

"I'm sorry," Lily choked out before returning to James.

James half-smiled at her, "Can I have a go now, Evans?"

Lily scowled. "No, you lay a finger on him and you'll wish you never taught me all the curses you know. And don't call me Evans!"

Sirius snickered. "Would you rather he called you Silly Lily? Or how about Lily-flower? Or maybe Lillian? And are you back to protecting precious _Sev_?"

Snape scowled at him but before he could retort Dumbledore cleared his throat.

"Harry, would you like to introduce your parents to everyone in the room even if they have met before?" Dumbledore asked.

Harry nodded, "So, you obviously know our school Professor's McGonagall, Dumbledore and Snape –"

"Excuse me?" demanded James. "Did you just say _Professor_ Snape? What position?"

"Potions," Harry told him.

"Ah, fitting."

"Then there's the ex-Professor's Moody and Lupin –"

Lily squealed, "You were a professor, Remus! What position?"

Remus laughed dryly. "Seeing as I'm not still there, what do you think?"

James groaned. "Defence Against the Dark Arts?"

"Yep."

"We had a large selection of Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor's didn't we?" James said. "So the first on was killed trying to protect the students of Hogwarts, namely us. The second one was captured by Death Eaters and then later hanged in front of a broken down Hogwarts Express. The third was possibly the nicest, but she resigned after doing something she wasn't supposed to. Our fourth year professor was Mundungus Fletcher so he was a fat lot of good. Our fifth we had a guy that came from teaching at Durmstrang. He was pretty good. In our sixth year we had a particularly nasty woman and in our seventh a very nice one by the name of Amanda Dearborn. Her younger sister Alice was in our grade."

"Alice Dearborn?" Neville asked.

"Yes. She married Frank Longbottom quite young. Quite the pair they were. Very talented on the Quidditch Pitch," James said.

"You knew my parents?" Neville choked.

"I suppose if they're your parents. How are they?" James questioned.

Neville didn't meet his eyes and mumbled something unintelligible.

James' eyes widened. "Oh dear Merlin! Are they…?"

Neville shook his head, "It's a long story. Harry, you can continue introducing."

Harry nodded. "Obviously there's Sirius. The one with the pink hair is Nymphadora –"

_"Don't call me Nymphadora!"_ Tonks' hair turned red with indignation.

"– who prefers to be known by her last name 'Tonks'. Then you've got the Weasley's: Mr and Mrs Weasley and four of their seven children. The twins are Fred and George. The other boy is Ron. And Ginny's the girl. There's also Neville, Luna and Hermione. And lastly there's Draco Malfoy."

"Right, thanks Harry," Lily smiled at her son.

Dumbledore cleared his throat to get their attention. "It is very nice, actually no, it is extremely superb to have you both here with us once again. But I think we could lay aside our rivalries and differences for now don't you think?" They all nodded meekly. "Good. I think we should all take our seats and start reading." Lily gave her son a smile before drifting over to sit between Mrs Weasley and Ginny. James, Sirius, Remus and Harry all sat down on the sofa.

"Right. Does anyone mind if I read first?" Harry asked. When no one objected, he reached over and pulled the first book of the pile.

* * *

That's the first bit! Please review and tell me what you thought!


	2. Chapter 1 The Boy Who Lived

I think there is a few people who read this so here's the next bit for you! I've actually nearly finished the whole story, because I'm on wattpad and uploaded it there first.

Anyway, please read and review!

Fizzy

**Chapter 1 The Boy Who Lived**

Malfoy snorted quietly, "Wow that sounds _so_ interesting."

"More interesting than you, you little bit of scum," Sirius muttered so that only Harry heard. James glared at Malfoy.

**Mr and Mrs Dursley,**

Lily groaned, "We really have to start this book reading about Vernon and Petunia?"

**of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much. They were the last people you'd expect to be involved in anything strange or mysterious, because they just didn't hold with such nonsense.**

Too right, Snape thought. Around the room he saw people thinking the same thing. Dumbledore was already frowning at the book and they hadn't even started the third sentence. Lily was baring her teeth at the book and James and Sirius were laughing at something.

**Mr Dursley was the director of a firm called Grunnings, which made drills. He was a big, beefy man with hardly any neck, although he did have a very large mustache. Mrs Dursley was thin and blonde and had nearly twice the usual amount of neck, which came in very useful as she spent so much of her time craning over garden fences, spying on the neighbors. The Dursleys had a small son called Dudley and in their opinion there was no finer boy anywhere.**

Everyone who had met Dudley burst out laughing.

"That fat lump!" The twins howled through laughter.

Harry stopped reading and said to the book, "Oh, _please_. Dudley is a menace." Everyone agreed apart from Mrs Weasley who glared sternly at her sons.

Lily looked thoughtful. "James, did we ever met Dudley? I can't remember the last time I saw Petunia."

James snorted. "Well, I don't know when we last saw them. It's not something I tend to remember but I don't think we did. Although by everyone's expression I'm guessing I _don't_ want to meet him." Everyone nodded enthusiastically.

**The Dursleys had everything they wanted, but they also had a secret, and their greatest fear was that somebody would discover it. They didn't think they could bear it if anyone found out about the Potters.**

There was a roar of outrage from Sirius, "James and Lily were not a secret!"

James looked at the book stunned and Lily nearly fell off the chair.

"Well," James said. "I knew they hated us but not to that extent."

**Mrs Potter was Mrs Dursley's sister, but they hadn't met for several years;**

"Well, there's our question answered. No, we have not seen them." James told Lily. She rolled her eyes and muttered something unintelligible.

** in fact, Mrs Dursley pretended she didn't have a sister, because her sister and her good-for-nothing husband were as unDursleyish as it was possible to be.**

There was another roar from Sirius, "James was not good-for-nothing! He was an Auror and apart from Moody probably the best in the department!"

"You were on Auror?" Harry asked James, looking impressed. He didn't know much about his parents and this was the first time anyone had told him that his father had had a job. James nodded looking proud.

"You didn't know?" Remus looked surprised.

"No, all I know about dad is that I look like him, but have mum's eyes and that dad played Quidditch in school," Harry admitted with his head down. He heard Sirius grind his teeth. James was shocked to hear that no one had informed his son about his parents.

"Don't worry, Bambi. Me and Remus and James while he's here will tell you everything you want to know about your parents. By the way, Lily was training to be a healer." Tonks started laughing when Sirius said 'Bambi'. James looked amused.

"What is so funny about the name Bambi?" Sirius asked angrily.

"It's a Muggle kid thing about a little deer! Babies watch Bambi!" Tonks choked out.

"How do you know that?" Lupin asked interestedly as the room burst into laughter.

Tonks smiled, "My dad's a Muggle-born."

James chuckled, "Can I please ask why you're calling Harry Bambi?"

Sirius looked embarrassed, "Um, well 'cos you're Prongs so Moony and I decided we should give him a name too. Apparently Remus didn't like the idea of Prongs Junior or Prongslette so I settled on Bambi. I can stop if you want."

James laughed while Harry nodded his head.

**The Dursleys shuddered to think what the neighbours would say if the Potters arrived in the street. The Dursleys knew that the Potters had a small son, too, but they had never even seen him. This boy was another good reason for keeping the Potters away; they didn't want Dudley mixing with a child like that.**

All over the room people yelled at the book while Lupin had managed to clamp his hands over Sirius' and James' mouths as they struggled to yell abuse. Dumbledore was sitting with his eyes closed and a sad expression on his face. Lily was also sitting with her eyes closed. Harry could see a muscle working in her jaw.

**When Mr and Mrs Dursley woke up on the dull, grey Tuesday our story starts, there was nothing about the cloudy sky outside to suggest that strange and mysterious things would soon be happening all over the country. Mr Dursley hummed as he picked out his most boring tie for work, and Mrs Dursley gossiped away happily as she wrestled a screaming Dudley into his high chair.**

**None of them noticed a large, tawny owl flutter past the window.**

"That'll be the first letter carrying the news of what had happened," Remus said glumly. Everyone's face all turned sad remembering Lily and James' death.

Sirius paled and pulled Harry and James into a hug.

"I've missed you," he breathed just loud enough for them to hear.

**At half past eight, Mr Dursley picked up his briefcase, pecked Mrs Dursley on the cheek, and tried to kiss Dudley good-bye but missed, because Dudley was now having a tantrum and throwing his cereal at the walls. "Little tyke," chortled Mr Dursley as he left the house.**

Ron snorted, "He is anything but _little_." Harry agreed.

**He got into his car and backed out of number four's drive.**

**It was on the corner of the street that he noticed the first sign of something peculiar – a cat reading a map.**

"Bet it's Minnie!" Sirius shouted.

"It probably is," James agreed, "Do you remember that time when we came back in our fifth year after the summer holidays…" And they were off laughing, joking, exchanging memories (many of them seem to feature someone they referred to as 'Slimeball'). Lily was rolling her eyes whilst casting affectionate glances at the pair.

**For a second, Mr Dursley didn't realize what he had seen – then he jerked his head around to look again. There was a tabby cat standing on the corner of Privet Drive, but there wasn't a map in sight. What could he have been thinking of? It must have been a trick of the light. Mr Dursley blinked and stared at the cat. It stared back. As Mr Dursley drove around the corner and up the road, he watched the cat in his mirror. It was now reading the sign that said ****_Privet Drive_**** – no, ****_looking _****at the sign; cats couldn't read maps ****_or_**** signs. Mr Dursley gave himself a little shake and put the cat out of his mind. As he drove toward town he thought of nothing except a large order of drills he was hoping to get that day.**

"That man is thick," Ginny muttered, "Magic stares at him right in the moustache and he thinks it's a trick of the light." Murmurs of agreement came through the room.

**But on the edge of town, drills were driven out of his mind by something else. As he sat in the usual morning traffic jam, he couldn't help noticing that there seemed to be a lot of strangely dressed people about. People in cloaks. Mr Dursley couldn't bear people who dressed in funny clothes – the getups you saw on young people!**

"Yes, it has been known that young people have worn funny things, Mr Dursley, you are correct. Take the prize of having a brain! P.S. We wear cloaks _every day_!" Sirius said in mock seriousness. The room burst into laughter.

**He supposed this was some stupid new fashion. He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel and his eyes fell on a huddle of these weirdos standing quite close by. They were whispering excitedly together. Mr Dursley was enraged to see that a couple of them weren't young at all; why, that man had to be older than he was, and wearing an emerald-green cloak!**

"I didn't know you were out that day, Albus," McGonagall said quite sternly.

"My dear Professor, they were merely curious so I had no reason to not tell them."

**The nerve of him! But then it struck Mr Dursley that this was probably some silly stunt – these people were obviously collecting for something... yes, that would be it. The traffic moved on and a few minutes later, Mr Dursley arrived in the Grunnings parking lot, his mind back on drills.**

**Mr Dursley always sat with his back to the window in his office on the ninth floor. If he hadn't, he might have found it harder to concentrate on drills that morning. ****_He_**** didn't see the owls swooping past in broad daylight, though people down in the street did; they pointed and gazed open- mouthed as owl after owl sped overhead. Most of them had never seen an owl even at night time. **

"Muggles," Ron mumbled.

**Mr Dursley, however, had a perfectly normal, owl-free morning. He yelled at five different people. He made several important telephone calls and shouted a bit more.**

"Likes to yell doesn't he?" Malfoy said something for the first time.

"Oh, yeah," Harry agreed. James and Sirius laughed again. This time Lily looked mutinous.

**He was in a very good mood until lunchtime, when he thought he'd stretch his legs and walk across the road to buy himself a bun from the bakery.**

**He'd forgotten all about the people in cloaks until he passed a group of them next to the baker's. He eyed them angrily as he passed. He didn't know why, but they made him uneasy. This bunch were whispering excitedly, too, and he couldn't see a single collecting tin. It was on his way back past them, clutching a large doughnut in a bag, that he caught a few words of what they were saying.**

**"The Potters, that's right, that's what I heard –"**

**"– yes, their son, Harry –"**

"Yes, our son Harry survived the Killing Curse. Not really something to be proud of is it?" James said dryly.

**Mr Dursley stopped dead.**

"YES!" Sirius jumped up and punched the air.

"Padfoot," Remus said quietly, "It's a saying. He's not actually dead."

"Oh."

**Fear flooded him. He looked back at the whisperers as if he wanted to say something to them, but thought better of it.**

"Coward," Sirius smirked, "At least he knows your name though, Harry."

Harry sighed, "Wait for it."

**He dashed back across the road, hurried up to his office, snapped at his secretary not to disturb him, seized his telephone, and had almost finished dialling his home number when he changed his mind. He put the receiver back down and stroked his moustache, thinking... no, he was being stupid. Potter wasn't such an unusual name. He was sure there were lots of people called Potter who had a son called Harry. Come to think of it, he wasn't even sure his nephew ****_was_**** called Harry.**

"So, he really doesn't know your name?" McGonagall asked looking appalled. Harry shrugged. He still wasn't sure if he knew it now.

Lily and James were looking at each other from across the room. Simultaneously their eyes swivelled to Harry and back to the book.

**He'd never even seen the boy. It might have been Harvey. Or Harold. There was no point in worrying Mrs Dursley; she always got so upset at any mention of her sister. He didn't blame her – if ****_he'd_**** had a sister like that...**

Harry scowled, "You do, and she's the biggest, bloody b–"

"Harry!" Hermione scolded as the Weasley children burst out laughing.

"Well, she is!"

Lily chuckled. "Yes, she is isn't she? I had the pleasure of meeting Marge when Vernon was away on a work trip and she had come to keep Petunia company. I didn't know that of course so when I showed up, instantly Marge insulted me and said some rather unpleasant comments. I had half a mind to pull out my wand and use Levicorpus on her." When she said Levicorpus her eyes flicked to Snape and back again. A slight smile spread across his face.

**but all the same, those people in cloaks...**

"We haven't finished the first chapter yet and I already hate that man more than ever," George commented.

"George!" Mrs Weasley scolded.

"Come on mum. You've got to admit –"

"That's enough George," Mr Weasley said although he wasn't looking happy either.

"Don't worry, George. When Sirius and I first met him, we annoyed him so much he stormed out of the house and we never saw him again," James told him.

**He found it a lot harder to concentrate on drills that afternoon and when he left the building at five o'clock, he was still so worried that he walked straight into someone just outside the door.**

**"Sorry," he grunted, as the tiny old man stumbled and almost fell. It was a few seconds before Mr Dursley realized that the man was wearing a violet cloak. He didn't seem at all upset at being almost knocked to the ground. On the contrary, his face split into a wide smile and he said in a squeaky voice that made passers-by stare, "Don't be sorry, my dear sir, for nothing could upset me today! Rejoice, for You-Know-Who has gone at last! Even Muggles like yourself should be celebrating, this happy, happy day!"**

"Dedalus Diggle," McGonagall shook her head in exasperation, "He never had much sense and it wasn't a completely happy day."

James frowned, "No it wasn't a happy day at all."

**And the old man hugged Mr Dursley around the middle and walked off.**

**Mr Dursley stood rooted to the spot. He had been hugged by a complete stranger. He also thought he had been called a Muggle, whatever that was.**

"Idiot," Snape sneered.

"Hark, who's talking," Sirius said quietly. James smirked.

**He was rattled. He hurried to his car and set off for home, hoping he was imagining things, which he had never hoped before, because he didn't approve of imagination.**

"So that's why he doesn't like us, George," Fred laughed.

"Too much imagination," they chorused.

**As he pulled into the driveway of number four, the first thing he saw – and it didn't improve his mood – was the tabby cat he'd spotted that morning. It was now sitting on his garden wall. He was sure it was the same one; it had the same markings around its eyes.**

"That is definitely Minnie!" Sirius yelled.

"I bet a Galleon it's not," Tonks smiled.

**"Shoo!" said Mr Dursley loudly. The cat didn't move. It just gave him a stern look.**

Dumbledore chuckled, "He's not one of your pupils, Minerva."

Sirius jumped up. "See! Even Dumbledore said it was Minnie!"

Tonks rolled her eyes. "He could be bluffing."

Dumbledore smiled, "So true Miss Tonks." Sirius sat down with a thump. James smiled at him sympathetically.

**Was this normal cat behaviour? Mr Dursley wondered. Trying to pull himself together, he let himself into the house. He was still determined not to mention anything to his wife.**

**Mrs Dursley had had a nice, normal day. She told him over dinner all about Mrs Next Door's problems with her daughter and how Dudley had learned a new word ("Shan't!"). Mr Dursley tried to act normally. When Dudley had been put to bed, he went into the living room in time to catch the last report on the evening news:**

**"And finally, bird-watchers everywhere have reported that the nation's owls have been behaving very unusually today. Although owls normally hunt at night and are hardly ever seen in daylight, there have been hundreds of sightings of these birds flying in every direction since sunrise. Experts are unable to explain why the owls have suddenly changed their sleeping pattern." The newscaster allowed himself a grin. "Most mysterious. And now, over to Jim McGuffin with the weather. Going to be any more showers of owls tonight, Jim?"**

**"Well, Ted,"**

"Ah, that explains the grin," Tonks smiled.

"What explains the grin?" Lupin asked curiously.

"My dad's name is Ted and he's a part time news reporter. Though I didn't expect to hear him mentioned in the first book."

**said the weatherman, "I don't know about that, but it's not only the owls that have been acting oddly today. Viewers as far apart as Kent, Yorkshire, and Dundee have been phoning in to tell me that instead of the rain I promised yesterday, they've had a downpour of shooting stars! Perhaps people have been celebrating Bonfire Night early – it's not until next week, folks! But I can promise a wet night tonight." **

**Mr Dursley sat frozen in his armchair. Shooting stars all over Britain? Owls flying by daylight? Mysterious people in cloaks all over the place? And a whisper, a whisper about the Potters... **

**Mrs Dursley came into the living room carrying two cups of tea. It was no** **good. He'd have to say something to her. He cleared his throat nervously. "Er – Petunia, dear – you haven't heard from your sister lately, have you?" **

"That won't go down well," Snape said quietly.

Lily sighed, "No, it won't."

**As he had expected, Mrs Dursley looked shocked and angry. After all, they normally pretended she didn't have a sister.**

Lily snorted. "Well that's just great! Honestly, she behaves like a child!"

**"No," she said sharply. "Why?" **

**"Funny stuff on the news," Mr Dursley mumbled. "Owls... shooting stars... and there were a lot of funny-looking people in town today..."**

**_"So?"_**** snapped Mrs Dursley.**

**"Well, I just thought... maybe... it was something to do with... you know... ****_her lot_****."**

"Her lot! _Her lot!_ That–" Sirius ranted before Lupin silenced him. James and Lily were looking sad.

**Mrs Dursley sipped her tea through pursed lips. Mr Dursley wondered whether he dared tell her he'd heard the name "Potter". He decided he didn't dare. Instead he said, as casually as he could, "Their son – he'd be about Dudley's age now, wouldn't he?"**

**"I suppose so," said Mrs Dursley stiffly.**

**"What's his name again? Howard, isn't it?"**

**"Harry. Nasty, common name, if you ask me."**

**"Oh, yes," said Mr Dursley, his heart sinking horribly. "Yes, I quite agree."**

"These Muggles are going to kill me!" Sirius tugged at his hair, looking quite demented.

"How is it a nasty common name?" Lily asked quietly. "It was dad's name."

**He didn't say another word on the subject as they went upstairs to bed. While Mrs Dursley was in the bathroom, Mr Dursley crept to the bedroom window and peered down into the front garden. The cat was still there. It was staring down Privet Drive as though it were waiting for something.**

**Was he imagining things?**

"The day that he starts to imagine things will be the day the world ends," Harry said grimly.

"Uh-huh," Lily agreed, "I can believe that."

**Could all this have anything to do with the Potters?**

"Congratulations, Dursley. Once again you win the prize. Use it well," Sirius put his game show host voice on.

**If it did... if it got out that they were related to a pair of – well, he didn't think he could bear it.**

Snape took a quick glance out the boy to find him miserable that everyone had to find out how his relatives reacted to magic. His vision of a pampered prince was fast shattering away into dust as the book continued on. It reminded him of his father, Tobias Snape, and how he hated anything to do with magic.

Lily was now looking enraged. Harry imagined she must be looking like this for most of the start of the book then.

**The Dursleys got into bed. Mrs Dursley fell asleep quickly but Mr Dursley lay awake, turning it all over in his mind. His last, comforting thought before he fell asleep was that even if the Potters were involved, there was no reason for them to come near him and Mrs Dursley. The Potters knew very well what he and Petunia thought about them and their kind... He couldn't see how he and Petunia could get mixed up in anything that might be going on – he yawned and turned over – it couldn't affect them...**

**How very wrong he was.**

"Ooh," Ron whispered to Hermione, "It's getting interesting." Hermione just rolled her eyes.

**Mr Dursley might have been drifting into an uneasy sleep, but the cat on the wall outside was showing no sign of sleepiness. It was sitting as still as a statue, its eyes fixed unblinkingly on the far corner of Privet Drive. It didn't so much as quiver when a car door slammed on the next street, nor when two owls swooped overhead. In fact, it was nearly midnight before the cat moved at all.**

**A man appeared on the corner the cat had been watching, appeared so suddenly and silently you'd have thought he'd just popped out of the ground. The cat's tail twitched and its eyes narrowed.**

"First time it moved all day," Lupin muttered shooting a glance at McGonagall whose face was a mask.

**Nothing like this man had ever been seen on Privet Drive. He was tall, thin, and very old, judging by the silver of his hair and beard, which were both long enough to tuck into his belt. He was wearing long robes, a purple cloak that swept the ground, and high-heeled, buckled boots. His blue eyes were light, bright, and sparkling behind half-moon spectacles and his nose was very long and crooked, as though it had been broken at least twice.**

"Dumbledore!" Fred, George and Ginny cried happily.

"I've always wanted my eyes to sparkle," Sirius grumbled looking up at Dumbledore. Dumbledore's eyes twinkled back at him.

**This man's name was Albus Dumbledore.**

Cheers ran through the room. Fred wolf-whistled. Dumbledore chuckled, stood up and gave a bow.

**Albus Dumbledore didn't seem to realize that he had just arrived in a street where everything from his name to his boots was unwelcome. He was busy rummaging in his cloak, looking for something. But he did seem to realize he was being watched, because he looked up suddenly at the cat, which was still staring at him from the other end of the street. For some reason, the sight of the cat seemed to amuse him. He chuckled and muttered, "I should have known."**

**He found what he was looking for in his inside pocket. It seemed to be a silver cigarette lighter. He flicked it open, held it up in the air, and clicked it. The nearest street lamp went out with a little pop. He clicked it again – the next lamp flickered into darkness. Twelve times he clicked the Put-Outer,**

"Its proper name is Deluminator," Dumbledore corrected.

**until the only lights left on the whole street were two tiny pinpricks in the distance, which were the eyes of the cat watching him. If anyone looked out of their window now, even beady-eyed Mrs Dursley, they wouldn't be able to see anything that was happening down on the pavement. Dumbledore slipped the Put-Outer back inside his cloak and set off down the street toward number four, where he sat down on the wall next to the cat. He didn't look at it, but after a moment he spoke to it.**

**"Fancy seeing you here, Professor McGonagall."**

"Ha," Sirius jumped up, "Pay up." He pointed to Tonks. Grumbling, Tonks reluctantly handed a Galleon over.

**He turned to smile at the tabby, but it had gone. Instead he was smiling at a rather severe-looking woman who was wearing square glasses exactly the shape of the markings the cat had had around its eyes. She, too, was wearing a cloak, an emerald one. Her black hair was drawn into a tight bun. She looked distinctly ruffled.**

**"How did you know it was me?" she asked.**

"Dumbledore knows everything, Professor," Fred said.

**"My dear Professor, I've never seen a cat sit so stiffly."**

**"You'd be stiff if you'd been sitting on a brick wall all day," said Professor McGonagall.**

Laughter weaved its way through the room.

McGonagall blushed, "Well, it's true. You do go very stiff."

**"All day? When you could have been celebrating? I must have passed a dozen feasts and parties on my way here."**

**Professor McGonagall sniffed angrily.**

**"Oh yes, everyone's celebrating, all right," she said impatiently. "You'd think they'd be a bit more careful, but no – even the Muggles have noticed something's going on. It was on their news." She jerked her head back at the Dursleys' dark living-room window. "I heard it. Flocks of owls... shooting stars... Well, they're not completely stupid. They were bound to notice something. Shooting stars down in Kent – I'll bet that was Dedalus Diggle. He never had much sense."**

Hermione laughed at that. When no one else apart from Lily laughed they both went red.

"What was funny about that?" Ron asked.

"Well, Professor McGonagall said just before that Dedalus Diggle didn't have much sense and then it says it in the book."

Everyone caught on and laughed too. McGonagall gave her two star pupils a rare smile.

**"You can't blame them," said Dumbledore gently. "We've had precious little to celebrate for eleven years."**

Everyone sobered at that.

**"I know that," said Professor McGonagall irritably. "But that's no reason to lose our heads. People are being downright careless, out on the streets in broad daylight, not even dressed in Muggle clothes, swapping rumours."**

**She threw a sharp, sideways glance at Dumbledore here, as though hoping he was going to tell her something, but he didn't, so she went on. "A fine thing it would be if, on the very day You-Know-Who seems to have disappeared at last, the Muggles found out about us all. I suppose he really ****_has_**** gone, Dumbledore?"**

**"It certainly seems so," said Dumbledore. "We have much to be thankful for. Would you care for a sherbet lemon?"**

"What's a sherbet lemon?" Mr Weasley asked.

"It's a Muggle sweet," Dumbledore said as he reached into his robes and pulled out a paper bag and handed it around. Once everyone was happily sucking on a sherbet lemon, Harry continued.

**"A ****_what?"_**

**"A sherbet lemon. They're a kind of Muggle sweet I'm rather fond of."**

**"No, thank you," said Professor McGonagall coldly, as though she didn't think this was the moment for sherbet lemon.**

"It always a time for sherbet lemon," Dumbledore said merrily.

McGonagall sniffed.

**"As I say, even if You-Know-Who ****_has_**** gone –"**

**"My dear Professor, surely a sensible person like yourself can call him by his name? All this 'You- Know-Who' nonsense – for eleven years I have been trying to persuade people to call him by his proper name: ****_Voldemort_****."**

Everyone flinched apart from Harry, Hermione, Sirius, James, Lily, Remus and Dumbledore.

**Professor McGonagall flinched, but Dumbledore, who was unsticking two sherbet lemons, seemed not to notice. "It all gets so confusing if we keep saying 'You-Know-Who.' I have never seen any reason to be frightened of saying Voldemort's name.**

**"I know you haven't," said Professor McGonagall, sounding half-exasperated, half-admiring. "But you're different. Everyone knows you're the only one You-Know – oh, all right, ****_Voldemort_****, was frightened of."**

**"You flatter me," said Dumbledore calmly. "Voldemort had powers I will never have."**

**"Only because you're too – well – ****_noble_**** to use them."**

**"It's lucky it's dark. I haven't blushed so much since Madam Pomfrey told me she liked my new earmuffs."**

"Too much information, sir," Ginny grinned at Dumbledore.

**Professor McGonagall shot a sharp look at Dumbledore and said, "The owls are nothing next to the rumours that are flying around. You know what everyone's saying? About why he's disappeared? About what finally stopped him?"**

Harry scowled at the book.

**It seemed that Professor McGonagall had reached the point she was most anxious to discuss, the real reason she had been waiting on a cold, hard wall all day, for neither as a cat nor as a woman had she fixed Dumbledore with such a piercing stare as she did now. **

Sirius shivered slightly. "I wouldn't like to be on the receiving end of _that_."

**It was plain that whatever "everyone" was saying, she was not going to believe it until Dumbledore told her it was true. Dumbledore, however, was choosing another sherbet lemon and did not answer.**

**"What they're ****_saying_****," she pressed on, "is that last night Voldemort turned up in Godric's Hollow. He went to find the Potters. The rumour is that Lily and James Potter are – are – that they're – dead. "**

Harry read the last paragraph so quietly that everyone had to strain to hear him. Sirius pulled him in for a hug and Remus looked at them sadly. Everyone bowed their heads in respect.

Lily rushed out of her seat and gave her son and husband a hug.

**Dumbledore bowed his head. Professor McGonagall gasped.**

**"Lily and James... I can't believe it... I didn't want to believe it... Oh, Albus..."**

**Dumbledore reached out and patted her on the shoulder. "I know... I know..." he said heavily.**

**Professor McGonagall's voice trembled as she went on. "That's not all. They're saying he tried to kill the Potter's son, Harry. But – he couldn't. He couldn't kill that little boy. No one knows why, or how, but they're saying that when he couldn't kill Harry Potter, Voldemort's power somehow broke – and that's why he's gone.**

**Dumbledore nodded glumly.**

**"It's – it's ****_true_****?" faltered Professor McGonagall. "After all he's done... all the people he's killed... he couldn't kill a little boy? It's just astounding... of all the things to stop him... but how in the name of heaven did Harry survive?"**

**"We can only guess," said Dumbledore. "We may never know."**

"But I bet you figure it out in the end," Dumbledore smiled sadly at Harry.

**Professor McGonagall pulled out a lace handkerchief and dabbed at her eyes beneath her spectacles. Dumbledore gave a great sniff as he took a golden watch from his pocket and examined it. It was a very odd watch. It had twelve hands but no numbers; instead, little planets were moving around the edge. It must have made sense to Dumbledore, though, because he put it back in his pocket and said, "Hagrid's late. I suppose it was he who told you I'd be here, by the way?"**

**"Yes," said Professor McGonagall. "And I don't suppose you're going to tell me ****_why_**** you're here, of all places?"**

"Ah, Hagrid," Sirius said fondly, "Remember that time we got him drunk, Moony, Prongs?"

Remus shot him a look that said 'shut up now, before they ask' while James roared with laughter. Sirius gulped and looked down averting his eyes from looking at anyone.

**"I've come to bring Harry to his aunt and uncle. They're the only family he has left now."**

Lily jumped up, "You seriously left him there? Why didn't Sirius take him? Or Sirius' cousin Andromeda? He could have grown up with Tonks!"

"Because they're not his family," Dumbledore replied.

"Yes, they are!" Lily exclaimed, "James is pure-blood and so is Sirius! I know for a fact that James' uncle's grandchildren are Sirius and Regulus!" Sirius growled at the mention of his brother.

"I'm sorry Lily, but I'm sure it will all be explained of why I left him there."

**"You don't mean – you ****_can't_**** mean the people who live ****_here_****?" cried Professor McGonagall, jumping to her feet and pointing at number four. "Dumbledore – you can't. I've been watching them all day. You couldn't find two people who are less like us. And they've got this son – I saw him kicking his mother all the way up the street, screaming for sweets. Harry Potter come and live here!"**

"Go Professor!" Fred and George cheered.

"No offense, sir, but I wish you had listened," Harry said to Dumbledore glumly.

**"It's the best place for him," said Dumbledore firmly. "His aunt and uncle will be able to explain everything to him when he's older. I've written them a letter."**

Snape snorted, "You can't explain it to them in only a letter, believe me."

**"A letter?" repeated Professor McGonagall faintly, sitting back down on the wall. "Really, Dumbledore, you think you can explain all this in a letter? These people will never understand him! He'll be famous – a legend – I wouldn't be surprised if today was known as Harry Potter Day in the future – there will be books written about Harry – every child in our world will know his name!"**

"I'm glad they didn't make a Harry Potter Day," Harry said.

**"Exactly," said Dumbledore, looking very seriously over the top of his half-moon glasses. "It would be enough to turn any boy's head. Famous before he can walk and talk! Famous for something he won't even remember! Can't you see how much better off he'll be, growing up away from all that until he's ready to take it?"**

Snape muttered something under his breath and glared at Harry. How he loathed him for being famous because Lily, his Lily, had died for him.

**Professor McGonagall opened her mouth, changed her mind, swallowed, and then said, "Yes – yes, you're right, of course. But how is the boy getting here, Dumbledore?" She eyed his cloak suddenly as though she thought he might be hiding Harry underneath it.**

McGonagall blushed furiously as Dumbledore chuckled.

**"Hagrid's bringing him."**

**"You think it – ****_wise_**** – to trust Hagrid with something as important as this?"**

"I would trust Hagrid with my life," Sirius said firmly.

**"I would trust Hagrid with my life," said Dumbledore.**

Remus chuckled, "I didn't know you were _still_ trying to copy Dumbledore, Sirius."

**"I'm not saying his heart isn't in the right place," said Professor McGonagall grudgingly, "but you can't pretend he's not careless. He does tend to – what was that?"**

**A low rumbling sound had broken the silence around them. It grew steadily louder as they looked up and down the street for some sign of a headlight; it swelled to a roar as they both looked up at the sky – and a huge motorcycle fell out of the air and landed on the road in front of them.**

"My motorbike!" Sirius yelled, "I never got that back. That's the only thing I don't trust Hagrid with, my bike. You know your dad and Remus gave that to me as my seventeenth birthday present," he told Harry.

"No, James mainly gave it to you. I got you the watch, though Peter and I did chip in a little." Remus replied. James grinned at both of them.

At the mention of Pettigrew, Sirius' face grew dark and his eyes flashed with the power of lightning bolts, "That piece of scum! If you want to live much longer, Moony, I would never mention that piece of – of _filth_ ever, ever again in my presence because that bastard is not worth being spoken about!"

Everyone sat in stunned silence while Sirius sat breathing heavily, cooling off.

Remus was the first to break the silence, "Well, now that Sirius has got that out I think we should be safe to carry on."

"Wait a second!" James interrupted. "Peter's our friend! Why are you getting so angry?"

Nearly everyone in the room sighed.

"It's quite a story and I'm sure it'll be mentioned in the books," Sirius gestured to the pile of books sitting on the coffee table.

**If the motorcycle was huge, it was nothing to the man sitting astride it. He was almost twice as tall as a normal man and at least five times as wide. He looked simply too big to be allowed, and so wild – long tangles of bushy black hair and beard hid most of his face, he had hands the size of trash can lids, and his feet in their leather boots were like baby dolphins. In his vast, muscular arms he was holding a bundle of blankets.**

"Hagrid!" All the kids yelled.

**"Hagrid," said Dumbledore, sounding relieved. "At last. And where did you get that motorcycle?"**

**"Borrowed it, Professor Dumbledore, sit," said the giant, climbing carefully off the motorcycle as he spoke. "Young Sirius Black lent it to me.**

"That's me!" Sirius shouted.

"We know, Sirius," Harry said.

**I've got him, sir."**

**"No problems, were there?"**

**"No, sir – house was almost destroyed, but I got him out all right before the Muggles started swarmin' around. He fell asleep as we was flyin' over Bristol."**

"Aw, was baby Potter sleepy," Malfoy drawled before Sirius silenced him.

**Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall bent forward over the bundle of blankets. Inside, just visible, was a baby boy, fast asleep. Under a tuft of jet-black hair over his forehead they could see a curiously shaped cut, like a bolt of lightning.**

**"Is that where –?" whispered Professor McGonagall.**

**"Yes," said Dumbledore. "He'll have that scar forever."**

**"Couldn't you do something about it, Dumbledore?"**

**"Even if I could, I wouldn't. Scars can come in handy. I have one myself above my left knee that is a perfect map of the London Underground.**

"Really?" Luna said something for the first time.

Dumbledore nodded, "Yes, quite a fine map to, has everything on it! Useful for those times when I'm lost and can't find a map."

"But, sir, surely you would never get lost?" Neville asked.

"Ah, Neville, you never know," Dumbledore smiled and his eyes twinkled.

"I want my eyes to twinkle!" Sirius demanded.

"You're never going to manage it, Padfoot. Remember that disastrous Christmas Eve when you tried to twinkle your eyes at Lily and James thought –" Remus stopped talking when Sirius's wand pointed at his throat.

"One more word, Moony and I swear to Merlin that your furry behind will be blasted into next year." Sirius didn't lower his arm until Remus nodded. James was now glaring daggers at Sirius and Lily was blushing.

"Good, Harry please continue."

** Well – give him here, Hagrid – we'd better get this over with."**

**Dumbledore took Harry in his arms and turned toward the Dursleys' house.**

**"Could I – could I say goodbye to him, sir?" asked Hagrid. He bent his great, shaggy head over Harry and gave him what must have been a very scratchy, whiskery kiss. Then, suddenly, Hagrid let out a howl like a wounded dog.**

"I'm sorry Hagrid, but I think I could do a better impression of being a wounded dog," Sirius grinned, quickly morphed into a big, black dog let out a howl and transformed back to a human. Harry, James and Remus burst out laughing. Malfoy looked shocked to see him turn into a dog.

Sirius smirked when he saw Malfoy looking, "It's called being an unregistered Animagus." McGonagall gave him a disapproving look.

**"Shhh!" hissed Professor McGonagall. "You'll wake the Muggles!"**

"Sorry, Professor," Fred grinned at George, "But nothing wakes up a Muggle or a Squib for that matter." Fred and George grins were identically evil and full of mischief.

McGonagall sighed, "What did you do to poor Argus?"

"Nothing, Professor!" The twins chimed sweetly.

**"S-s-sorry," sobbed Hagrid, taking out a large, spotted handkerchief and burying his face in it. "But I c-c-can't stand it – Lily an' James dead – an' poor little Harry off ter live with Muggles –"**

**"Yes, yes, it's all very sad, but get a grip on yourself, Hagrid, or we'll be found," Professor McGonagall whispered, patting Hagrid gingerly on the arm as Dumbledore stepped over the low garden wall and walked to the front door. He laid Harry gently on the doorstep,**

Silence filled the room.

Sirius' face was dark and stormy again, "Do you mean to say, that you left him on the doorstep of his aunt's house, who hates him, in November when Tonks' dad just said it would be a wet night? Are you completely mad? Are you completely and utterly mad? IT'S BLOODY NOVEMBER AND YOU LEFT HIM ON THE DOORSTEP OF LILY'S SISTERS HOUSE BECAUSE HER OWN HAD BEEN BLOWN APART BY THREE KILLING CURSES BY BLOODY VOLDEMORT AND HIS PRECIOUS FOLLOWERS!"

"Sirius, please," Dumbledore sounded like he was pleading, "If I had had any idea I would have…" Dumbledore's words trailed off into nothingness. Lily and James were now shooting Dumbledore death glares as well.

**took a letter out of his cloak, tucked it inside Harry's blankets and then came back to the other two. For a full minute the three of them stood and looked at the little bundle; Hagrid's shoulders shook, Professor McGonagall blinked furiously and the twinkling light that usually shone from Dumbledore's eyes seemed to have gone out.**

**"Well," said Dumbledore finally, "that's that. We've no business staying here. We may as well go and join the celebrations."**

**"Yeah," said Hagrid in a very muffled voice, "I'll be takin' Sirius his bike back.**

"Except for the fact that I was put in Azkaban two days later doesn't help me getting my bike back," Sirius growled obviously still not over his rant at Dumbledore.

James looked shocked. "You were put in Azkaban?" Lily was looking stunned as well.

"Yeah," Sirius growled, "For twelve bloody years. _Without trial_."

"How the hell did you manage that?" James asked.

"Pettigrew." That was the only explanation he gave which left Lily and James thoroughly confused.

**G'night, Professor McGonagall – Professor Dumbledore, sir."**

**Wiping his streaming eyes on his jacket sleeve, Hagrid swung himself onto the motorcycle and kicked the engine into life; with a roar it rose into the air and off into the night.**

**"I shall see you soon, I expect, Professor McGonagall," said Dumbledore, nodding to her. Professor McGonagall blew her nose in reply.**

**Dumbledore turned and walked back down the street. On the corner he stopped and took out the silver Put-Outer. He clicked it once, and twelve balls of light sped back to their street lamps so that Privet Drive glowed suddenly orange and he could make out a tabby cat slinking around the corner at the other end of the street. He could just see the bundle of blankets on the step of number four.**

**"Good luck, Harry,"**

"I'll need it," Harry muttered.

**he murmured. He turned on his heel and with a swish of his cloak, he was gone.**

**A breeze ruffled the neat hedges of Privet Drive, which lay silent and tidy under the inky sky, the very last place you would expect astonishing things to happen. Harry Potter rolled over inside his blankets without waking up. One small hand closed on the letter beside him and he slept on, not knowing he was special, not knowing he was famous, not knowing he would be woken in a few hours' time by Mrs Dursley's scream as she opened the front door to put out the milk bottles, nor that he would spend the next few weeks being prodded and pinched by his cousin Dudley... He couldn't know that at this very moment, people meeting in secret all over the country were holding up their glasses and saying in hushed voices: "To Harry Potter – the boy who lived!"**

"That's it," Harry said quietly.

Silence. Then, "See! Putting out the milk bottles! You left him there like yesterday's milk! Prodded and pinched!" Sirius burst out. Lily was shaking her head looking tearful.

Dumbledore just shook his head and looked down. He knew that leaving Harry there was not the wisest thing he'd ever done but he had no option.

"Who's reading next?" Harry asked holding the book out.

Sirius snatched the book, "I will."

* * *

Please tell me what you thought of how the characters portrayed themselves! Thanks!


	3. Chapter 2 The Vanishing Glass

Next chapter! Hope you enjoy it!

Thanks to hplover1999, KoreanMusicFan, madnessdownunder2, greyspotterfiction and PerfectlyStrange for reviewing! Thanks guys! Appreciate it!

Fizzy

**Chapter 2 The Vanishing Glass**

**Nearly ten years had passed since the Dursleys had woken up to find their nephew on the front step,**

Sirius, Lily and James glared at Dumbledore.

**but Privet Drive had hardly changed at all. The sun rose on the same tidy front gardens and lit up the brass number four on the Dursleys' front door; it crept into their living room, which was almost exactly the same as it had been on the night when Mr Dursley had seen that fateful news report about the owls. Only the photographs on the mantelpiece really showed how much time had passed. Ten years ago, there had been lots of pictures of what looked like a large pink beach ball wearing different-coloured bobble hats –but Dudley Dursley was no longer a baby, and now the photographs showed a large blond boy riding his first bicycle, on a roundabout at the fair, playing a computer game with his father, being hugged and kissed by his mother. **

Cue Fred and George retching noises.

**The room held no sign at all that another boy lived in the house, too.**

This time everyone turned to glare at the Headmaster.

**Yet Harry Potter was still there, asleep at the moment, but not for long. His Aunt Petunia was awake and it was her shrill voice that made the first noise of the day.**

**"Up! Get up! Now!"**

**Harry woke with a start. His aunt rapped on the door again.**

**"Up!" she screeched. Harry heard her walking toward the kitchen and then the sound of the frying pan being put on the stove.**

"How can you hear the stove from your bedroom?" Malfoy asked, frowning.

"Newsflash: not everyone lives in Malfoy Manor, Malfoy," Harry said. A pink tinge appeared on Malfoy's cheeks as Harry spoke about his wealth.

**He rolled onto his back and tried to remember the dream he had been having. It had been a good one. There had been a flying motorcycle in it. He had a funny feeling he'd had the same dream before.**

"It's called a memory, smart one," Sirius ruffled Harry's hair making it even more untidy.

"It's amazing you remember it though," Hermione said quietly, "I mean it was when you were one year and three months _and_ you fell asleep during the ride."

Everyone else looked impressed as well. Harry blushed and didn't make eye contact with anyone. Snape raised his eyebrows. He thought that the boy would have become big-headed when praised like his father but once again he found himself wrong. As they read on his image of the boy became increasingly different and he found himself wondering if he knew this boy.

James pulled Harry into a hug, "That's my boy."

**His aunt was back outside the door.**

**"Are you up yet?" she demanded.**

**"Nearly," said Harry.**

**"Well, get a move on, I want you to look after the bacon. And don't you dare let it burn, I want everything perfect on Duddy's birthday."**

As Hermione looked shocked and said, "They make you cook?" Sirius, James, Ginny, Fred and George burst out laughing at Petunia calling Dudley 'Duddy'.

**Harry groaned.**

**"What did you say?" his aunt snapped through the door.**

**"Nothing, nothing..."**

**Dudley's birthday – how could he have forgotten? Harry got slowly out of bed and started looking for socks. He found a pair under his bed and, after pulling a spider off**

Looking revolted, Ron shuddered. Hermione rolled her eyes and muttered something under her breath to which Ginny smiled.

**one of them, put them on. Harry was used to spiders, because the cupboard under the stairs was full of them, and that was where he slept.**

"Wait, what?" Sirius said to himself. He went back and read it again.

**one of them, put them on. Harry was used to spiders, because the cupboard under the stairs was full of them, and that was where he slept.**

"You slept in a cupboard!" Sirius screeched then turning to Dumbledore he whipped his wand out. "This is the craziest thing you've ever done and I don't like it _at all_!"

"Sirius, I'm sorry, I didn't know. I didn't know how they treated Harry. I think Harry probably had a reason from not telling us," Dumbledore's eyes no longer twinkled.

Harry himself was looking down at his hands, blushing. He didn't want anyone to know about him living in the cupboard.

Snape was, once again, stunned that the boy had not been spoiled all his life. This is bad, he thought, what if he is more like Lily? No matter, he pushed the thought away, he is James Potter's son.

Lily was looking murderous and James had once again pulled Harry into a hug.

**When he was dressed he went down the hall into the kitchen. The table was almost hidden beneath all Dudley's birthday presents. It looked as though Dudley had gotten the new computer he wanted, not to mention the second television and the racing bike.**

"Why would he want a racing bike?" Hermione frowned, "I mean, he's not exactly _fit_ is he."

**Exactly why Dudley wanted a racing bike was a mystery to Harry, as Dudley was very fat and hated exercise – unless of course it involved punching somebody. Dudley's favourite punch-bag was Harry, but he couldn't often catch him. Harry didn't look it, but he was very fast.**

"He beat you up?" Malfoy asked.

"If he could catch me."

**Perhaps it had something to do with living in a dark cupboard, but Harry had always been small and skinny for his age.**

"That's your father's gene. He was a scrawny git when he was eleven. Much like someone else I know," Sirius said the last bit quietly so only Harry heard him, his eyes flicking to Snape before returning to the book.

"Jeez, thanks for the description Padfoot," James grinned at his best friend.

"You're welcome, Prongs," Sirius grinned back.

**He looked even smaller and skinnier than he really was because all he had to wear were old clothes of Dudley's, and Dudley was about four times bigger than he was. Harry had a thin face, knobbly knees, black hair, and bright-green eyes. He wore round glasses held together with a lot of Sellotape tape because of all the times Dudley had punched him on the nose.**

"I thought he couldn't catch you?" Tonks looked at Harry.

"He usually only got me when his 'gang' was over so they could hold my hands behind my back and hold me there," Harry shrugged.

"That's appalling! How can Petunia turn a blind eye to this?" Lily was fuming and her red hair made the impression that her head was on fire.

"Lily, calm down. Just listen to the book. Don't say anything. We only have one book so if you tear it apart it'll be no good," James told her. Lily relaxed and leant against the back of the couch.

"I suppose you're right."

**The only thing Harry liked about his own appearance was a very thin scar on his forehead that was shaped like a bolt of lightning.**

Again the room was silent.

"You actually _liked_ your scar?" Ron was shocked, everyone knew that Harry hated his scar.

"I was only ten, I didn't know what it meant then."

**He had had it as long as he could remember, and the first question he could ever remember asking his Aunt Petunia was how he had gotten it.**

**"In the car crash when your parents died,"**

Silence once again.

"A car crash?" This time Remus broke the quietness, "They told you they died in a _car crash_. A car crash wouldn't have killed Lily and James. No way."

"Well," James thought about it. "If I was driving we probably could have been killed but if _Lily_ was driving it would be no problem at all." Lily rolled her eyes at her husband.

**she had said. "And don't ask questions."**

**_Don't ask questions_**** – that was the first rule for a quiet life with the Dursleys.**

**Uncle Vernon entered the kitchen as Harry was turning over the bacon.**

**"Comb your hair!" he barked, by way of a morning greeting.**

Sirius and Remus laughed. "That's not going to work!" James grinned.

**About once a week, Uncle Vernon looked over the top of his newspaper and shouted that Harry needed a haircut. Harry must have had more haircuts than the rest of the boys in his class put together, but it made no difference, his hair simply grew that way – all over the place.**

"Just like James." Sirius smiled at Harry and his father.

**Harry was frying eggs by the time Dudley arrived in the kitchen with his mother. Dudley looked a lot like Uncle Vernon. He had a large pink face, not much neck, small, watery blue eyes, and thick blond hair that lay smoothly on his thick, fat head. Aunt Petunia often said that Dudley looked like a baby angel – Harry often said that Dudley looked like a pig in a wig.**

"Such a way with words," Sirius smirked as the rest of the room fell about laughing.

**Harry put the plates of egg and bacon on the table, which was difficult as there wasn't much room. Dudley, meanwhile, was counting his presents. His face fell.**

**"Thirty-six," he said, looking up at his mother and father. "That's two less than last year."**

"They seriously gave him that many presents?" Hermione was appalled. Harry nodded.

"Spoilt brat," Malfoy hissed.

"Look who's talking," Harry shot back. James clapped him on the back as he roared with laughter and Malfoy flushed.

**"Darling, you haven't counted Auntie Marge's present, see, it's here under this big one from Mommy and Daddy."**

**"All right, thirty-seven then," said Dudley, going red in the face. Harry, who could see a huge Dudley tantrum coming on, began wolfing down his bacon as fast as possible in case Dudley turned the table over.**

**Aunt Petunia obviously scented danger, too, because she said quickly, "And we'll buy you another ****_two_**** presents while we're out today. How's that, popkin? ****_Two_**** more presents. Is that all right?''**

**Dudley thought for a moment. It looked like hard work. Finally he said slowly, "So I'll have thirty... thirty..."**

"Merlin! He can't count!" Tonks exclaimed.

Remus frowned, "But how did he get through school? Unless…" He turned to face Harry, "Did he make you do his homework?"

Harry blushed, "Sometimes," he admitted.

"Pig," Sirius snorted.

**"Thirty-nine, sweetums," said Aunt Petunia.**

**"Oh." Dudley sat down heavily and grabbed the nearest parcel. "All right then."**

**Uncle Vernon chuckled. "Little tyke wants his money's worth, just like his father. Atta boy, Dudley!" He ruffled Dudley's hair.**

**At that moment the telephone rang and Aunt Petunia went to answer it while Harry and Uncle Vernon watched Dudley unwrap the racing bike, a cine-camera, a remote-control airplane, sixteen new computer games, and a video recorder. He was ripping the paper off a gold wristwatch **

"A gold watch when he's _eleven_?" Mrs Weasley asked incredulously.

**when Aunt Petunia came back from the telephone looking both angry and worried.**

**"Bad news, Vernon," she said. "Mrs Figg's broken her leg. She can't take him." She jerked her head in Harry's direction.**

Dumbledore chuckled. "Poor, Arabella, she probably tripped over one of her cats."

**Dudley's mouth fell open in horror, but Harry's heart gave a leap. Every year on Dudley's birthday, his parents took him and a friend out for the day, to adventure parks, hamburger restaurants or the cinema. Every year, Harry was left behind with Mrs Figg, a mad old lady who lived two streets away. Harry hated it there. The whole house smelled of cabbage and Mrs Figg made him look at photographs of all the cats she'd ever owned.**

"You do know that's what she does for living. She breeds cats and Kneazles. Like Hermione's cat," Dumbledore informed them.

Harry's eyes narrowed. "And I also know that she was posted in Little Whinging to make sure nothing happened to someone who also lived there."

"I'm sure it was just a necessary precaution, Harry," Lily assured him.

**"Now what?" said Aunt Petunia, looking furiously at Harry as though he'd planned this. Harry knew he ought to feel sorry that Mrs Figg had broken her leg, but it wasn't easy when he reminded himself it would be a whole year before he had to look at Tibbles, Snowy, Mr Paws, and Tufty again.**

Ron mock gasped, "Harry! How could you? Mr Paws is going to come find you now." Laughter ran through the room.

**"We could phone Marge," Uncle Vernon suggested.**

**"Don't be silly, Vernon, she hates the boy."**

"She sure does," Harry said to himself.

**The Dursleys often spoke about Harry like this, as though he wasn't there – or rather, as though he was something very nasty that couldn't understand them, like a slug.**

Malfoy smirked, "I'm sure slugs can understand _you_ though, Potter."

Snape sneered.

"Give me one good reason," Sirius whispered to Harry, "and I swear that little odd ball will wish he hadn't insulted anyone in your family."

"I'm sure he can give you plenty of reasons, Sirius but now is not the time," James answered for Harry. Something passed between James and Sirius and Sirius nodded. Remus sighed as he caught the exchange and muttered something under his breath,

**"What about what's-her-name, your friend – Yvonne?"**

**"On vacation in Majorca," snapped Aunt Petunia.**

**"You could just leave me here," Harry put in hopefully (he'd be able to watch what he wanted on television for a change and maybe even have a go on Dudley's computer).**

"That is _so_ not going to work," Ron said.

"I can always hope."

Ron snorted. "Yeah, Harry the pessimist, _hoping_. That's about as likely as your Uncle believing in imaging."

**Aunt Petunia looked as though she'd just swallowed a lemon.**

**"And come back and find the house in ruins?" she snarled.**

**"I won't blow up the house," said Harry, but they weren't listening.**

**"I suppose we could take him to the zoo," said Aunt Petunia slowly, "... and leave him in the car..."**

**"That car's new, he's not sitting in it alone..."**

Sirius' face turned angry. "He's treating you like a dog!"

Remus smiled, "You would know, Padfoot."

"Oh, ha, ha, Moony. Suppose you would know as well, though. Wolves are close enough to dogs."

**Dudley began to cry loudly. In fact, he wasn't really crying – it had been years since he'd really cried – but he knew that if he screwed up his face and wailed, his mother would give him anything he wanted.**

**"Dinky Duddydums,**

Sirius had to stop reading because he was laughing so much, "Dinky Duddydums," he managed to choke out in between laugh attacks. James nearly fell out of his seat from laughing so much.

**don't cry, Mummy won't let him spoil your special day!" she cried, flinging her arms around him.**

**"I… don't… want… him… t-t-to come!" Dudley yelled between huge pretend sobs. "He always sp-spoils everything!" He shot Harry a nasty grin through the gap in his mother's arms.**

**Just then, the doorbell rang – "Oh, Good Lord, they're here!" said Aunt Petunia frantically – and a moment later, Dudley's best friend, Piers Polkiss, walked in with his mother. Piers was a scrawny boy with a face like a rat.**

"Oh, great. Makes me wonder what our descriptions are going to be, doesn't it," Sirius grumbled. "Though I'll only get mine in the end of the third book."

"I only met Harry this year, so I suppose the fifth book for me," Tonks said.

"I would be fifth book as well," Luna said dreamily.

**He was usually the one who held people's arms behind their backs while Dudley hit them. Dudley stopped pretending to cry at once.**

**Half an hour later, Harry, who couldn't believe his luck, was sitting in the back of the Dursleys' car with Piers and Dudley, on the way to the zoo for the first time in his life.**

"You had never been to the zoo before?" Hermione asked. Harry shook his head.

**His aunt and uncle hadn't been able to think of anything else to do with him, but before they'd left, Uncle Vernon had taken Harry aside.**

**"I'm warning you," he had said, putting his large purple face right up close to Harry's, "I'm warning you now, boy – any funny business, anything at all – and you'll be in that cupboard from now until Christmas."**

**"I'm not going to do anything," said Harry, "honestly…"**

**But Uncle Vernon didn't believe him. No one ever did.**

**The problem was, strange things often happened around Harry and it was just no good telling the Dursleys he didn't make them happen.**

**Once, Aunt Petunia, tired of Harry coming back from the barbers looking as though he hadn't been at all, had taken a pair of kitchen scissors and cut his hair so short he was almost bald except for his fringe, which she left "to hide that horrible scar". Dudley had laughed himself silly at Harry, who spent a sleepless night imagining school the next day, where he was already laughed at for his baggy clothes and Sellotaped glasses. Next morning, however, he had gotten up to find his hair exactly as it had been before Aunt Petunia had sheared it off He had been given a week in his cupboard for this, even though he had tried to explain that he ****_couldn't_**** explain how it had grown back so quickly.**

"Mmm… that could be Metamorphmagus ability," Tonks said and just for the fun of it, she turned her hair to Snape's greasy mop, who was in his own little world and didn't notice. The whole room burst into laughter. Snape looked up but Tonks had turned her hair back and sat there grinning.

**Another time, Aunt Petunia had been trying to force him into a revolting old jumper of Dudley's (brown with orange bobbles). The harder she tried to pull it over his head, the smaller it seemed to become, until finally it might have fitted a glove puppet, but certainly wouldn't fit Harry. Aunt Petunia had decided it must have shrunk in the wash and, to his great relief, Harry wasn't punished.**

"Shrinking Charm," Remus muttered to himself. "Easy enough."

**On the other hand, he'd gotten into terrible trouble for being found on the roof of the school kitchens. Dudley's gang had been chasing him as usual when, as much to Harry's surprise as anyone else's, there he was sitting on the chimney. The Dursleys had received a very angry letter from Harry's headmistress telling them Harry had been climbing school buildings. But all he'd tried to do (as he shouted at Uncle Vernon through the locked door of his cupboard) was jump behind the big bins outside the kitchen doors. Harry supposed that the wind must have caught him in mid-jump.**

"Wait," Remus looked amazed, "You Apparated? Is that possible?" He whirled to face Dumbledore.

"Obviously it is, if Harry was able to do it. You are very powerful to be able to do that at such a young age. I couldn't do it," Dumbledore looked over at him with more interest.

"But, why do you suck at magic?" Ron asked bluntly.

"Ronald!" Mrs Weasley said.

Harry shrugged, he didn't need to tell them but before Sirius could read on Snape interrupted.

"It's a combination of the way the Dursleys treat him and everyone's expectations of him."

Sirius and James glared at him before looking down at Harry who was trying to make himself as small as possible before realising that Snape was probably right.

Ron's mouth hung open. "Does that mean you're like really smart? Like Hermione smart?"

"I dunno. I've never tried to find out."

"You should do, Harry," Hermione said quietly, "Even though you're already really powerful, there's a war coming. We don't know how soon, you've got to be ready. You're the only one who can stop it. We all know that and we'll be fighting for you. All the way."

"Thanks, Hermione."

"Well said, Miss Granger," McGonagall congratulated her. Dumbledore looked at her thoughtfully.

"But I still don't get why you act dumb," Ron was still struggling for an answer.

That got Harry fired up. "Everyone expects me to be some knight in shining armour who can defeat Voldemort every time he comes knocking! That's all they expect me to be! Everyone just thinks, oh, we'll go get Harry 'cos Voldemort's here and he knows what to do! That's all they want me to be! If I try to be something else, they judge me for it! In my second year everyone turned on me like I was the next Dark Lord or something because I could speak bloody _Parseltongue_! They thought I was the Heir of Slytherin! And if I tried to do my best Ron and Hermione would be angry!"

"Why do you say that, Harry?" Hermione asked.

"Oh, c'mon, Hermione, in our third year when I beat you on the Defence Against the Dark Arts you were very put out! And Ron would feel left out! That's why I signed up for all the same classes! He already is put out by my fame and wealth! I don't want _any_ of that! I wish I was a normal person." His voice broke on the last word and leaned against the back of the sofa, cooling down.

"We're sorry Harry," Hermione whispered.

"You shouldn't be. Sorry about that, everyone. I kinda lost my head." Everyone muttered and murmured about it being okay and that how he should also get it out then let it boil.

James's mouth was hanging open, "_You _speak _Parseltonge_?"

"Tactless," Remus muttered.

"If everyone's ready, I'll start reading again," Sirius took a swift glance at Harry before continuing.

**But today, nothing was going to go wrong.**

Hermione groaned, "Of course, now something's going to go wrong."

"Well, wasn't the chapter called _The Vanishing Glass_? Obviously, that implies that glass is going to vanish," Harry replied.

**It was even worth being with Dudley and Piers to be spending the day somewhere that wasn't school, his cupboard, or Mrs Figg's cabbage-smelling living-room.**

**While he drove, Uncle Vernon complained to Aunt Petunia. He liked to complain about things: people at work, Harry, the council, Harry, the bank, and Harry were just a few of his favorite subjects. This morning, it was motorcycles.**

**"... roaring along like maniacs, the young hoodlums," he said, as a motorcycle overtook them.**

**"I had a dream about a motorcycle," said Harry, remembering suddenly. "It was flying."**

"That's not going to go down well," Ginny muttered.

**Uncle Vernon nearly crashed into the car in front. He turned right around in his seat and yelled at Harry, his face like a gigantic beetroot with a moustache, "MOTORCYCLES DON'T FLY!"**

"MINE DOES!" Sirius roared back at the book.

"Sirius! They can't hear you!" Harry laughed.

**Dudley and Piers sniggered.**

**"I know they don't," said Harry. "It was only a dream." But he wished he hadn't said anything. If there was one thing the Dursleys hated even more than his asking questions, it was his talking about anything acting in a way it shouldn't, no matter if it was in a dream or even a cartoon – they seemed to think he might get dangerous ideas.**

**It was a very sunny Saturday and the zoo was crowded with families. The Dursleys bought Dudley and Piers large chocolate ice-creams at the entrance and then, because the smiling lady in the van had asked Harry what he wanted before they could hurry him away, they bought him a cheap lemon ice pop. It wasn't bad, either, Harry thought, licking it as they watched a gorilla scratching its head who looked remarkably like Dudley, except that it wasn't blond.**

Sirius chuckled, "I have to meet this boy."

Harry shook his head. "Believe me, you don't want to."

**Harry had the best morning he'd had in a long time. He was careful to walk a little way apart from the Dursleys so that Dudley and Piers, who were starting to get bored with the animals by lunch-time, wouldn't fall back on their favourite hobby of hitting him. They ate in the zoo restaurant, and when Dudley had a tantrum because his knickerbocker glory didn't have enough ice cream on top, Uncle Vernon bought him another one and Harry was allowed to finish the first.**

Tonks looked shocked. "Did it just say you were _allowed_ to finish it? Are these people mental?"

"To answer your question, Tonks, yes they're very mental," Harry grinned at her.

**Harry felt, afterward, that he should have known it was all too good to last.**

"Oh, no," Hermione said.

**After lunch they went to the reptile house. It was cool and dark in there, with lit windows all along the walls. Behind the glass, all sorts of lizards and snakes were crawling and slithering over bits of wood and stone. Dudley and Piers wanted to see huge, poisonous cobras and thick, man-crushing pythons. Dudley quickly found the largest snake in the place. It could have wrapped its body twice around Uncle Vernon's car and crushed it into a dust bin – but at the moment it didn't look in the mood. In fact, it was fast asleep.**

Hermione sighed as she realised what was going to happen.

**Dudley stood with his nose pressed against the glass, staring at the glistening brown coils.**

**"Make it move," he whined at his father. Uncle Vernon tapped on the glass, but the snake didn't budge.**

**"Do it again," Dudley ordered. Uncle Vernon rapped the glass smartly with his knuckles, but the snake just snoozed on.**

**"This is boring," Dudley moaned. He shuffled away.**

**Harry moved in front of the tank and looked intently at the snake. He wouldn't have been surprised if it had died of boredom itself – no company except stupid people drumming their fingers on the glass trying to disturb it all day long. It was worse than having a cupboard as a bedroom, where the only visitor was Aunt Petunia hammering on the door to wake you up – at least he got to visit the rest of the house.**

**The snake suddenly opened its beady eyes. Slowly, very slowly, it raised its head until its eyes were on a level with Harry's.**

**_It winked._**

Ron groaned as he also realised what was happening. Now everyone was looking at them as Harry stared intently at the book, not daring to look up.

**Harry stared. Then he looked quickly around to see if anyone was watching. They weren't. He looked back at the snake and winked, too.**

**The snake jerked its head toward Uncle Vernon and Dudley, then raised its eyes to the ceiling. It gave Harry a look that said quite plainly: ****_"I get that all the time."_**

**"I know," Harry murmured through the glass, though he wasn't sure the snake could hear him. "It must be really annoying."**

"Oh dear Merlin! You're talking to a snake! How are you not in Slytherin?" Sirius was still astonished to find out that his godson was a Parselmouth. James was still looking shocked.

Harry grinned and spoke a few words of Parseltongue to annoy them.

**The snake nodded vigorously.**

**"Where do you come from, anyway?" Harry asked.**

**The snake jabbed its tail at a little sign next to the glass. Harry peered at it.**

**_Boa Constrictor, Brazil._**

**"Was it nice there?"**

**The boa constrictor jabbed its tail at the sign again and Harry read on: ****_This specimen was bred in the zoo_****. "Oh, I see – so you've never been to Brazil?"**

**As the snake shook its head, a deafening shout behind Harry made both of them jump. "DUDLEY! MR DURSLEY! COME AND LOOK AT THIS SNAKE! YOU WON'T ****_BELIEVE_**** WHAT IT'S DOING!"**

**Dudley came waddling toward them as fast as he could.**

**"Out of the way, you," he said, punching Harry in the ribs. Caught by surprise, Harry fell hard on the concrete floor. What came next happened so fast no one saw how it happened – one second, Piers and Dudley were leaning right up close to the glass, the next, they had leapt back with howls of horror.**

**Harry sat up and gasped; the glass front of the boa constrictor's tank had vanished.**

"Vanishing Charm. Not too hard, not too easy," Remus murmured to himself.

**The great snake was uncoiling itself rapidly, slithering out onto the floor. People throughout the reptile house screamed and started running for the exits.**

**As the snake slid swiftly past him, Harry could have sworn a low, hissing voice said, "Brazil, here I come... Thanksss, amigo."**

**The keeper of the reptile house was in shock.**

**"But the glass," he kept saying, "where did the glass go?"**

**The zoo director himself made Aunt Petunia a cup of strong, sweet tea while he apologised over and over again. Piers and Dudley could only gibber. As far as Harry had seen, the snake hadn't done anything except snap playfully at their heels as it passed, but by the time they were all back in Uncle Vernon's car, Dudley was telling them how it had nearly bitten off his leg, while Piers was swearing it had tried to squeeze him to death. But worst of all, for Harry at least, was Piers calming down enough to say, "Harry was talking to it, weren't you, Harry?"**

"Rat-face," James muttered.

**Uncle Vernon waited until Piers was safely out of the house before starting on Harry. He was so angry he could hardly speak. He managed to say, "Go – cupboard – stay – no meals,"**

"That's child abuse!" Hermione said indignantly, "He can't do that!"

**before he collapsed into a chair, and Aunt Petunia had to run and get him a large brandy.**

**Harry lay in his dark cupboard much later, wishing he had a watch. He didn't know what time it was and he couldn't be sure the Dursleys were asleep yet. Until they were, he couldn't risk sneaking to the kitchen for some food.**

"You _shouldn't _have to do that." Mrs Weasley glared at Dumbledore.

**He'd lived with the Dursleys almost ten years, ten miserable years, as long as he could remember, ever since he'd been a baby and his parents had died in that car crash. He couldn't remember being in the car when his parents had died. Sometimes, when he strained his memory during long hours in his cupboard, he came up with a strange vision: a blinding flash of green light and a burning pain on his forehead.**

Sirius swallowed and said, "You remember that night?"

"I remember more now." Lily and James paled.

**This, he supposed, was the crash, though he couldn't imagine where all the green light came from. He couldn't remember his parents at all. His aunt and uncle never spoke about them, and of course he was forbidden to ask questions. There were no photographs of them in the house.**

**When he had been younger, Harry had dreamed and dreamed of some unknown relation coming to take him away, but it had never happened; the Dursleys were his only family. Yet sometimes he thought (or maybe hoped) that strangers in the street seemed to know him. Very strange strangers they were, too. A tiny man in a violet top hat had bowed to him once while out shopping with Aunt Petunia and Dudley. After asking Harry furiously if he knew the man, Aunt Petunia had rushed them out of the shop without buying anything. A wild-looking old woman dressed all in green had waved merrily at him once on a bus. A bald man in a very long purple coat had actually shaken his hand in the street the other day and then walked away without a word.**

"Diggle," McGonagall shook her head.

"Well, Minnie, it said a woman all dressed in green. Remind you of anyone?" James laughed.

"I swear, James Potter, that was not me."

**The weirdest thing about all these people was the way they seemed to vanish the second Harry tried to get a closer look.**

**At school, Harry had no one. Everybody knew that Dudley's gang hated that odd Harry Potter in his baggy old clothes and broken glasses, and nobody liked to disagree with Dudley's gang.**

"I'd like to meet Dudley's gang," Sirius smirked, "And then I would blast them into next week."

Harry looked at his godfather disapprovingly, "Wasn't that the crime you were convicted for?"

"Yeah, but I didn't do it."

"Go tell the Ministry that."

Sirius ignored Harry and said, "Anyway, that's the end of that chapter and I'm hungry." There was a small pop and a plates of sandwiches and goblets filled with pumpkin juice materialised. Ron dived forward and started stuffing his face.

Harry and Hermione rolled their eyes.

"I'll read next," Hermione held out her hand for the book. Sirius tossed it and she caught it.

* * *

Please review!


	4. Chapter 3 The Letters From No One

Hey everyone! Here's the next chapter! Not going to say much, just enjoy!

Also thanks to: siriusly, Annie 'Brincess' Moonlight, KoreanMusicFan, PerfectlyStrange and Sushine72 for reviewing! Thank you!

Fizzy

**Chapter 3 The Letters From No One**

**The escape of the Brazilian boa constrictor earned Harry his longest-ever punishment. By the time he was allowed out of his cupboard again, the summer holidays had started and Dudley had already broken his new cine-camera, crashed his remote-control airplane, and, first time out on his racing bike, knocked down old Mrs Figg as she crossed Privet Drive on her crutches.**

**Harry was glad school was over, but there was no escaping Dudley's gang, who visited the house every single day. Piers, Dennis, Malcolm, and Gordon were all big and stupid, but as Dudley was the biggest and stupidest of the lot, he was the leader. The rest of them were all quite happy to join in Dudley's favorite sport: Harry-hunting.**

"See, dad," Fred told Mr Weasley. "He deserved it."

"What did you do to him?" Sirius and James looked eagerly between the two.

Mr Weasley frowned. "Fred and George have quite an inventive streak. If you remember Gideon and Fabian Prewett, Molly's younger twin brothers, were inventive too, which is ironic, as we used the 'F' and 'G' from their names for Fred and George."

The three Marauders grinned at each other. "I we remember those two all right," James said, "Helped us on a few of our pranks if you remember that Snivelly?" Snape glared at him. "Though in say that goody-two-shoes Lily Evans helped us on a few didn't you. Remember that one on Umbridge?"

"Umbridge?" Harry asked. "Is that why she hates me so much?"

James looked surprised. "Yeah, do you know her?"

Harry snorted. "Of course I know her! She tried to expel me and put me in Azkaban for defending myself!"

At the word of 'Azkaban', James paled. Sirius shot him a sympathetic glance.

"What happened?" Harry looked between them.

James sighed heavily. "Well, there was this Death Eater called Jamtumal Milner, who was very intent on killing me. I defied him several times when I was caught unaware after the train ride back to King's Cross. He dragged me away and we duelled. Our Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher that year had been very kind and said we should fight fire with fire. In other words retaliate to the Death Eaters with the Unforgivable Curses. She offered me private lessons on them. I took the chance. When I was duelling with Milner, I thought of all the things he'd done: how many Muggles he murdered, how many of my friends he had hurt, kidnapped, killed, how many Aurors he had killed, how he had tortured had hurt my family, Lily's family, everything. I thought it was enough. Enough to kill him. I cast the Killing Curse. It wasn't enough. My mum, dad and Bartemius Crouch found me. Crouch cast Priori Incantatem and saw that I had cast the Killing Curse. I had a trial. Umbridge was there and she was basically saying 'take him to Azkaban!' I got off but she's hated me ever since."

The room sat in silence. Snape shifted in his seat and Lily glared at him.

"Hermione, please read on." James said.

**This was why Harry spent as much time as possible out of the house, wandering around and thinking about the end of the holidays, where he could see a tiny ray of hope. When September came he would be going off to secondary school and, for the first time in his life, he wouldn't be with Dudley. Dudley had a place at Uncle Vernon's old school, Smeltings. Piers Polkiss was going there too. Harry, on the other hand, was going to Stonewall High, the local comprehensive .**

"No you won't," Tonks smiled at him.

**Dudley thought this was very funny.**

**"They stuff people's heads down the toilet the first day at Stonewall," he told Harry. "Want to come upstairs and practice?"**

**"No, thanks," said Harry. "The poor toilet's never had anything as horrible as your head down it – it might be sick." Then he ran, before Dudley could work out what he'd said.**

"Bloody brilliant, Harry!" Sirius roared with laughter.

That was answer worthy of a Slytherin, Snape thought.

**One day in July, Aunt Petunia took Dudley to London to buy his Smeltings uniform, leaving Harry at Mrs Figg's. Mrs Figg wasn't as bad as usual. It turned out she'd broken her leg tripping over one of her cats and she didn't seem quite as fond of them as before. She let Harry watch television and gave him a bit of chocolate cake that tasted as though she'd had it for several years.**

"That was nice of her," Ron said sarcastically.

**That evening, Dudley paraded around the living-room for the family in his brand-new uniform. Smeltings boys wore maroon tailcoats, orange knickerbockers and flat straw hats called boaters. They also carried knobbly sticks, used for hitting each other while the teachers weren't looking. This was supposed to be good training for later life.**

"They actually give them sticks to whack people with?" Hermione said disgustedly.

McGonagall shuddered. "How horrible."

**As he looked at Dudley in his new knickerbockers, Uncle Vernon said gruffly that it was the proudest moment of his life. Aunt Petunia burst into tears and said she couldn't believe it was her Ickle Dudleykins, **

"Ickle Dudleykins?" Ron shook with laughter.

"Look who's speaking! Didn't Fred and George call you Ickle Ronniekins at King's Cross?" Harry laughed. Ron made a face at him then shot a death glare at the twins who grinned back.

**he looked so handsome and grown-up. Harry didn't trust himself to speak. He thought two of his ribs might already have cracked from trying not to laugh.**

"It wouldn't be a good thing if I cracked my ribs. They probably wouldn't take me to the hospital to get them fixed," Harry laughed.

The rest of the room looked at him in shock.

"What?" Harry asked nervously.

"It's not funny that they won't take you to the hospital Harry," Hermione said quietly.

"Oh."

**There was a horrible smell in the kitchen the next morning when Harry went in for breakfast. It seemed to be coming from a large metal tub in the sink. He went to have a look. The tub was full of what looked like dirty rags swimming in grey water.**

**"What's this?" he asked Aunt Petunia. Her lips tightened as they always did if he dared to ask a question.**

**"Your new school uniform," she said.**

**Harry looked in the bowl again.**

**"Oh," he said, "I didn't realize it had to be so wet."**

Dumbledore chuckled. "One day, Harry, your mouth will get you into trouble."

Snape glared at Harry. "Don't worry, Headmaster. It already has."

Sirius and James let out a small snarl.

**"Don't be stupid," snapped Aunt Petunia. "I'm dyeing some of Dudley's old things grey for you. It'll look just like everyone else's when I've finished."**

**Harry seriously doubted this, but thought it best not to argue. He sat down at the table and tried not to think about how he was going to look on his first day at Stonewall High – like he was wearing bits of old elephant skin, probably.**

"Elephant skin?" Sirius's lips twitched.

"What? They would have done."

**Dudley and Uncle Vernon came in, both with wrinkled noses because of the smell from Harry's new uniform. Uncle Vernon opened his newspaper as usual and Dudley banged his Smelting stick, which he carried everywhere, on the table.**

**They heard the click of the letter-box and flop of letters on the doormat.**

"Ooh," Hermione leaned forward interestedly. "If the post is mentioned, does that mean that…?" Hermione trailed off looking at Harry excitedly. Harry didn't bother telling her that he doesn't get to read the letter anyway.

**"Get the post, Dudley," said Uncle Vernon from behind his paper.**

**"Make Harry get it."**

**"Get the post, Harry."**

"So he does know your name!" Ron cried before Hermione hit him round the head.

"Ow! What was that for?"

Hermione shook her head with exasperation. "Honestly Ronald, you are so tactless."

**"Make Dudley get it."**

**"Poke him with your Smeltings stick, Dudley."**

"Foul play!" Sirius shouted at the book.

Snape smirked. "Well, Black, you'd know all about foul play, wouldn't you?" He was obviously talking about something that had happened while they were at Hogwarts as the Marauders faces had all turned dark.

**Harry dodged the Smelting stick and went to get the post. Three things lay on the doormat: a postcard from Uncle Vernon's sister Marge, who was holidaying on the Isle of Wight, a brown envelope that looked like a bill and – ****_a letter for Harry_****.**

Everyone's eyes lit up while Harry sighed gloomily.

**Harry picked it up and stared at it, his heart twanging like a giant elastic band. No one, ever, in his whole life, had written to him. Who would? He had no friends, no other relatives – he didn't belong to the library, so he'd never even got rude notes asking for books back. Yet here it was, a letter, addressed so plainly there could be no mistake:**

**_Mr H. Potter_**

**_The Cupboard under the Stairs_**

**_4 Privet Drive_**

**_Little Whinging_**

**_Surrey_**

"Albus, I think we need to supervise the quill," McGonagall said sternly.

Remus nodded. "I don't remember the letters being that specific."

Dumbledore nodded dully and made a mental note to buy another magic quill.

No one heard Snape whisper, "I do," as he remembered his Hogwarts letter.

**The envelope was thick and heavy, made of yellowish parchment, and the address was written in emerald-green ink. There was no stamp.**

**Turning the envelope over, his hand trembling, Harry saw a purple wax seal bearing a coat of arms; a lion,**

"GRYFFINDOR!" Sirius and James cheered. All the Gryffindor's in the room cheered loudly.

**an eagle,**

Luna grinned and Moody grunted, indicating he had been a Ravenclaw.

**a badger**

"HUFFLEPUFF!" Tonks applauded for her former house.

**and a snake**

Malfoy smirked while Snape's face stayed a mask.

**surrounding a large letter 'H'.**

"HOGWARTS!" Everyone apart from Snape, Malfoy, McGonagall and Moody bellowed.

**"Hurry up, boy!" shouted Uncle Vernon from the kitchen. "What are you doing, checking for letter-bombs?" He chuckled at his own joke.**

**Harry went back to the kitchen, still staring at his letter. He handed Uncle Vernon the bill and the postcard, sat down and slowly began to open the yellow envelope.**

"Don't open it in front of them," Remus shook his head.

Harry sighed. "Too late."

**Uncle Vernon ripped open the bill, snorted in disgust and flipped over the postcard.**

**"Marge's ill," he informed Aunt Petunia. "Ate a funny whelk…"**

**"Dad!" said Dudley suddenly. "Dad, Harry's got something!"**

"It's not your business you lazy pork chop!" Fred shouted at the book.

**Harry was on the point of unfolding his letter, which was written on the same heavy parchment as the envelope, when it was jerked sharply out of his hand by Uncle Vernon.**

**"That's ****_mine_****!" said Harry, trying to snatch it back.**

Ron and Hermione exchanged smirks. "I sense someone losing their temper soon," Ron snickered. Harry rolled his eyes.

**"Who'd be writing to you?"**

Neville blushed. "Wh-when I was six I wrote to you."

Ginny also blushed but didn't say anything.

Ron, noticing her blush, laughed. "Ginny also wrote to you. Several times." Ginny glared at him.

**sneered Uncle Vernon, shaking the letter open with one hand and glancing at it. His face went from red to green faster than a set of traffic lights. And it didn't stop there. Within seconds it was the greyish white of old porridge.**

**"P-P-Petunia!" he gasped.**

**Dudley tried to grab the letter to read it, but Uncle Vernon held it high out of his reach. Aunt Petunia took it curiously and read the first line. For a moment it looked as though she might faint. She clutched her throat and made a choking noise.**

**"Vernon! Oh my goodness – Vernon!"**

**They stared at each other, seeming to have forgotten that Harry and Dudley were still in the room. Dudley wasn't used to being ignored. He gave his father a sharp tap on the head with his Smelting stick.**

"Blimey, if we did that to dad, mum would blow her top," Ron whispered.

"Did you say something, Ronald?" Mrs Weasley said sharply.

"No, mum."

**"I want to read that letter," he said loudly. **

**"****_I_**** want to read it," said Harry furiously, "as it's ****_mine_****."**

"Any second now," Ron grinned at Harry.

**"Get out, both of you," croaked Uncle Vernon, stuffing the letter back inside its envelope.**

**Harry didn't move.**

"Wait for it…" Neville chortled.

**"I WANT MY LETTER!" he shouted.**

"And there it is! Harry's temper!" Hermione smiled at him.

"Reminds me of Lily," Remus laughed glancing at her. Lily smiled at Harry fondly.

**"Let ****_me_**** see it!" demanded Dudley.**

**"OUT!" roared Uncle Vernon, and he took both Harry and Dudley by the scruffs of their necks and threw them into the hall, slamming the kitchen door behind them. Harry and Dudley promptly had a furious but silent fight over who would listen at the keyhole; Dudley won, so Harry, his glasses dangling from one ear, lay flat on his stomach to listen at the crack between door and floor.**

**"Vernon," Aunt Petunia was saying in a quivering voice, "look at the address – how could they possibly know where he sleeps? You don't think they're watching the house?"**

**"Watching – spying – might be following us," muttered Uncle Vernon wildly.**

**"But what should we do, Vernon? Should we write back? Tell them we don't want –"**

**Harry could see Uncle Vernon's shiny black shoes pacing up and down the kitchen.**

**"No," he said finally. "No, we'll ignore it. If they don't get an answer... Yes, that's best... we won't do anything...**

**"But –"**

**"I'm not having one in the house, Petunia! Didn't we swear when we took him in we'd stamp out that dangerous nonsense?"**

It was like an earthquake was shaking the room. Everyone glanced around in alarm before resting their eyes on Dumbledore. He had a hand on his chest and was breathing heavily.

"I apologise," he said after calming down. "I had no idea this was their view on magic. I am so terribly sorry, Harry."

"It's okay, sir."

**That evening when he got back from work, Uncle Vernon did something he'd never done before; he visited Harry in his cupboard.**

**"Where's my letter?" said Harry, the moment Uncle Vernon had squeezed through the door. "Who's writing to me?"**

**"No one. It was addressed to you by mistake,"**

Snape snorted. "So, it was a complete coincidence that it had all his details on it then."

**said Uncle Vernon shortly. "I have burned it."**

**"It was ****_not_**** a mistake," said Harry angrily, "it had my cupboard on it."**

**"SILENCE!" yelled Uncle Vernon, and a couple of spiders fell from the ceiling. He took a few deep breaths and then forced his face into a smile, which looked quite painful.**

**"Er – yes, Harry – about this cupboard. Your aunt and I have been thinking... you're really getting a bit big for it... we think it might be nice if you moved into Dudley's second bedroom."**

"How many rooms does this ruddy house have?" James growled. Harry didn't answer. They would all find out soon enough.

**"Why?" said Harry.**

**"Don't ask questions!" snapped his uncle. "Take this stuff upstairs, now."**

**The Dursleys' house had four bedrooms:**

Sirius snarled. "That stupid family! They have four bedrooms and they don't give Harry one! If I _ever_ meet them, they'll wish they'd never been born!"

**one for Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia, one for visitors (usually Uncle Vernon's sister, Marge), one where Dudley slept, and one where Dudley kept all the toys and things that wouldn't fit into his first bedroom.**

"Are you serious?" James shouted.

Sirius smiled weakly. "Yes, I am."

"You know what I mean! The treated Harry like dirt! Whoever kills Voldemort will be showered with gifts when they died because I gonna love them for killing that snake-head who took me away from Harry!" Silence filled the room. James looked confused. "What?"

All of the members of the Order looked uncomfortable. Dumbledore cleared his throat. "James, if you remember our conversation before I took the Cloak… About who was going to be the one to kill Voldemort? Or die trying? Do you remember that?" James mouth made an 'o' and he sat back down abruptly.

**It only took Harry one trip upstairs to move everything he owned from the cupboard to this room. He sat down on the bed and stared around him. Nearly everything in here was broken. The month-old cine-camera was lying on top of a small, working tank Dudley had once driven over the next door neighbour's dog; in the corner was Dudley's first-ever television set, which he'd put his foot through when his favourite programme had been cancelled; there was a large birdcage, which had once held a parrot that Dudley had swapped at school for a real air-rifle, which was up on a shelf with the end all bent because Dudley had sat on it. Other shelves were full of books. They were the only things in the room that looked as though they'd never been touched.**

**From downstairs came the sound of Dudley bawling at his mother, "I don't ****_want_**** him in there... I ****_nee_****d that room... make him get out..."**

"Spoiled brat…" Sirius muttered under his breath.

**Harry sighed and stretched out on the bed. Yesterday he'd have given anything to be up here. Today he'd rather be back in his cupboard with that letter than up here without it.**

"Aww, don't worry Harry. You'll meet us soon. We'll entertain you!" The twins' eyes glinted with mischief.

**Next morning at breakfast, everyone was rather quiet. Dudley was in shock. He'd screamed, whacked his father with his Smelting stick,**

"He actually did that?" Remus asked him. Harry nodded.

**been sick on purpose,**

"Ugh!" Ron made a disgusted face.

**kicked his mother,**

"If we tried that…" the twins muttered. Mrs Weasley shot them a glare.

**and thrown his tortoise through the greenhouse roof,**

"That's so mean!" Lily cried. "I love tortoises!"

**and he still didn't have his room back. Harry was thinking about this time yesterday and bitterly wishing he'd opened the letter in the hall.**

"I wish you did too," McGonagall sighed.

"But if I did, I wouldn't understand any of it."

**Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia kept looking at each other darkly.**

**When the post arrived, Uncle Vernon, who seemed to be trying to be nice to Harry, made Dudley go and get it. They heard him banging things with his Smelting stick all the way down the hall. Then he shouted, "There's another one! ****_Mr H. Potter, The Smallest Bedroom, 4 Privet Drive _****–"**

"I thought he wanted to read it? Why'd he yell it out for everyone to hear?" Ron questioned.

"Because he's stupid," Harry replied to which Sirius laughed at.

**With a strangled cry, Uncle Vernon leapt from his seat and ran down the hall, Harry right behind him. Uncle Vernon had to wrestle Dudley to the ground to get the letter from him, which was made difficult by the fact that Harry had grabbed Uncle Vernon around the neck from behind.**

"Practicing Harry?" Ron asked while laughing. Hermione was also trying not to laugh.

"Practicing for what?" James asked.

"You'll see," Harry replied, grinning.

**After a minute of confused fighting, in which everyone got hit a lot by the Smelting stick, Uncle Vernon straightened up, gasping for breath, with Harry's letter clutched in his hand.**

**"Go to your cupboard – I mean, your bedroom," he wheezed at Harry. "Dudley – go – just go."**

**Harry walked round and round his new room. Someone knew he had moved out of his cupboard and they seemed to know he hadn't received his first letter. Surely that meant they'd try again? And this time he'd make sure they didn't fail. He had a plan.**

"Oh, no," Hermione, Ron, Ginny and Neville all groaned.

"What?" Sirius asked.

The four looked at each other before Ginny spoke up.

"Well, Harry is much better at thinking on his feet then going according to plan. When he makes a plan it goes… wrong."

Sirius roared with laughter and clapped James on the back, "Just like his father!"

**The repaired alarm clock rang at six o'clock the next morning.**

"How did you repair it? I doubt that the Dursleys would have lent you anything to fix it?" Hermione asked.

"I dunno. Can't remember. Probably accidental magic," he replied.

**Harry turned it off quickly and dressed silently. He mustn't wake the Dursleys. He stole downstairs without turning on any of the lights.**

**He was going to wait for the postman on the corner of Privet Drive and get the letters for number four first. His heart hammered as he crept across the dark hall toward the front door –**

**Harry leapt into the air – he'd trodden on something big and squashy on the doormat – something alive!**

**Lights clicked on upstairs and to his horror Harry realized that the big squashy something had been his uncle's face.**

"Ah," Lily winced. "That's not going to go down well."

**Vernon had been lying at the foot of the front door in a sleeping bag, clearly making sure that Harry didn't do exactly what he'd been trying to do.**

"See? Harry's plans never go how they're meant to," laughed Ginny.

**He shouted at Harry for about half an hour and then told him to go and make a cup of tea. Harry shuffled miserably off into the kitchen and by the time he got back, the post had arrived, right into Uncle Vernon's lap. Harry could see three letters addressed in green ink.**

**I want –" he began, but Uncle Vernon was tearing the letters into pieces before his eyes. Uncle Vernon didn't go to work that day. He stayed at home and nailed up the letter-box.**

"That won't stop us," McGonagall said smugly while Dumbledore chuckled merrily.

"How many letters did you get?" Tonks asked Harry.

Harry snorted. "I'm guessing something around three hundred."

**"See," he explained to Aunt Petunia through a mouthful of nails, "if they can't ****_deliver_**** them they'll just give up."**

**"I'm not sure that'll work, Vernon."**

**"Oh, these people's minds work in strange ways, Petunia, they're not like you and me," said Uncle Vernon, trying to knock in a nail with the piece of fruit cake Aunt Petunia had just brought him.**

"Ironic that's a piece of fruit cake isn't it? 'Cause he's a fruit cake himself." James said shaking his head with exasperation as Sirius roared with laughter.

Remus grinned and said, "I think "fruit cake" is a bit of an understatement. He's a complete moron!"

Sirius had recovered from his laugh attack and was ready with a witty response, "Well, you would know all about morons, wouldn't you Loony?" Remus made a face at him.

James smiled. "Moony the Loony Lupin!" As the three of them fell about laughing, Luna smiled dreamily.

"People call me Loony too," she said. Remus, James and Sirius stopped laughing promptly and looked at each other.

"Yeah, but not in a good way, Luna. They mean it because you're a bit dreamy and they're not used to it," Ginny said before drawing her wand. "And if anyone insults her, you have to answer to my Bat Bogey Hex!" Fred and George winced; obviously both of them had been on the receiving end of one of her most famous hexes.

**On Friday, no less than twelve letters arrived for Harry. As they couldn't go through the letter-box they had been pushed under the door, slotted through the sides and a few even forced through the small window in the downstairs bathroom.**

**Uncle Vernon stayed at home again. After burning all the letters, he got out a hammer and nails and boarded up the cracks around the front and back doors so no one could go out. He hummed "Tiptoe through the Tulips" as he worked, and jumped at small noises.**

"He's getting paranoid," Moody said.

Tonks grinned, "Hark who's talking." Moody glared at her as everyone else laughed.

**On Saturday, things began to get out of hand. Twenty-four letters to Harry found their way into the house, rolled up and hidden inside each of the two dozen eggs that their very confused milkman had handed Aunt Petunia through the living-room window. While Uncle Vernon made furious telephone calls to the post office and the dairy trying to find someone to complain to, Aunt Petunia shredded the letters in her food processor.**

**"Who on earth wants to talk to ****_you_**** this badly?" Dudley asked Harry in amazement.**

"Only the whole Wizarding world," Ron joked to which Harry gave him a scowl.

**On Sunday morning, Uncle Vernon sat down at the breakfast table looking tired and rather ill, but happy.**

**"No post on Sundays," he reminded them happily as he spread marmalade on his newspapers, "no damn letters today –"**

"Apart from the fact that the Wizarding world goes to a different scale," Lily said.

**Something came whizzing down the kitchen chimney as he spoke and caught him sharply on the back of the head. Next moment, thirty or forty letters came pelting out of the fireplace like bullets. The Dursleys ducked, but Harry leapt into the air trying to catch one.**

"Why didn't you just pick one up off the floor?" Hermione asked surprised.

"Seeker training," Harry countered.

"You didn't even know what Quidditch was!"

"Instinct! And you didn't know what it was either!" Harry shot back.

"Besides Hermione, not everyone thinks things through logically like you do," Ron said bracingly.

**"Out! OUT!"**

**Uncle Vernon seized Harry around the waist and threw him into the hall. When Aunt Petunia and Dudley had run out with their arms over their faces, Uncle Vernon slammed the door shut. They could hear the letters still streaming into the room, bouncing off the walls and floor.**

**"That does it," said Uncle Vernon, trying to speak calmly but pulling great tufts out of his moustache at the same time. "I want you all back here in five minutes ready to leave. We're going away. Just pack some clothes. No arguments!"**

**He looked so dangerous with half his moustache missing that no one dared argue. Ten minutes later they had wrenched their way through the boarded-up doors and were in the car, speeding toward the motorway. Dudley was sniffling in the back seat; his father had hit him round the head for holding them up while he tried to pack his television, video and computer in his sports bag.**

**They drove. And they drove. Even Aunt Petunia didn't dare ask where they were going. Every now and then Uncle Vernon would take a sharp turning and drive in the opposite direction for a while. **

**"Shake 'em off... shake 'em off," he would mutter whenever he did this.**

**They didn't stop to eat or drink all day. By nightfall Dudley was howling. He'd never had such a bad day in his life. He was hungry, he'd missed five television programmes he'd wanted to see and he'd never gone so long without blowing up an alien on his computer.**

Everyone glared at the book and Hermione snapped, "Welcome to Harry's life!"

**Uncle Vernon stopped at last outside a gloomy-looking hotel on the outskirts of a big city. Dudley and Harry shared a room with twin beds and damp, musty sheets. Dudley snored but Harry stayed awake, sitting on the window-sill, staring down at the lights of passing cars and wondering...**

**They ate stale cornflakes and cold tinned tomatoes on toast for breakfast next day. They had just finished when the owner of the hotel came over to their table.**

**"'Scuse me, but is one of you Mr H. Potter? Only I got about an 'undred of these at the front desk."**

**She held up a letter so they could read the green ink address:**

**_Mr. H. Potter_**

**_Room 17_**

**_Railview Hotel_**

**_Cokeworth_**

**Harry made a grab for the letter but Uncle Vernon knocked his hand out of the way.**

James and Sirius scowled at the book while surprisingly, Remus, growled.

When everyone looked at him he looked embarrassed. "Uh, the full moon is in two days. Have you got my potion Severus?" Snape nodded stiffly and waved his wand and with a pop the potion appeared on the coffee table.

James looked at Remus with wide eyes. "Don't take that potion!"

Remus looked bemused. "Why ever not?"

"Because he made it!"

Remus laughed. "I've been taking that potion made by Severus for nearly three years now!"

Hermione interrupted. "But if time is frozen, would there be a full moon?"

Suddenly there was a white flash and a letter lay next to the potion. Hermione walked forward and picked it up.

_Dear Hermione,_

_In answer to your question, unfortunately, that is one of the only things we can't control: the moon. Sorry, Remus, but at least you have James and Sirius here. And if I would be daring enough to ask Professor McGonagall, since Peter Pettigrew is no longer part of the 'Marauders' could you please be a member for just tonight? Unless anyone else is an Animagus? You will find a secluded room that looks like the Shrieking Shack but is sound proof so you don't need to worry about that. The only thing I ask that you _don't _do, is go wandering. You have no Dark Forest here. All you have is friends. _

_Thank you and once again sorry Remus,_

_Hermione_

"That's it. So Professor are you willing to go with them?" Hermione asked McGonagall. James and Sirius were pulling faces indicating they didn't want a teacher to go with them.

McGonagall huffed. "Well, unless someone is unregistered, I suppose."

Lily looked embarrassed and stood up. "I can go Minerva." In a flash a doe was standing in her place. James transformed to and suddenly he was Prongs.

"Lily! When did you become an unregistered Animagus?" McGonagall asked.

Lily transformed and said, "Well, James and I were cooped up for a little over a year so he taught me how to become one."

James changed back, huffing, "Gee, thanks, Lil'. Blame it all on me."

"I'm grateful for it!"

Dumbledore interrupted, "I think we've got that settled. On the full moon Remus I think you won't need the potion then if you're with friends. Lily, James and Sirius will go with him. Miss Granger, please continue reading."

**The woman stared.**

**"I'll take them," said Uncle Vernon, standing up quickly and following her from the dining-room.**

**"Wouldn't it be better just to go home, dear?" Aunt Petunia suggested timidly, hours later, but Uncle Vernon didn't seem to hear her. Exactly what he was looking for, none of them knew. He drove them into the middle of a forest, got out, looked around, shook his head, got back in the car, and off they went again. The same thing happened in the middle of a ploughed field, halfway across a suspension bridge, and at the top of a multi-storey car park.**

**"Daddy's gone mad, hasn't he?"**

"He hasn't _gone_ mad, he _is _mad!" James laughed while Sirius and Remus shook with laughter.

**Dudley asked Aunt Petunia dully late that afternoon. Uncle Vernon had parked at the coast, locked them all inside the car and disappeared.**

**It started to rain. Great drops beat on the roof of the car. Dudley snivelled.**

**"It's Monday," he told his mother. "The Great Humberto's on tonight. I want to stay somewhere with a ****_television_****. "**

**Monday. This reminded Harry of something. If it ****_was_**** Monday – and you could usually count on Dudley to know the days the week, because of television – then tomorrow, Tuesday, was Harry's eleventh birthday. Of course, his birthdays were never exactly fun – last year, the Dursleys had given him a coat hanger and a pair of Uncle Vernon's old socks.**

"Now, I see why you are such a pessimist living with them," Ron said gravely.

**Still, you weren't eleven every day.**

"Hey!" Ron cheered. "He's not thinking pessimistic thoughts!"

**Uncle Vernon was back and he was smiling. He was also carrying a long, thin package and didn't answer Aunt Petunia when she asked what he'd bought.**

**"Found the perfect place!"**

Harry snorted, "Yeah, so perfect!"

**he said. "Come on! Everyone out!"**

**It was very cold outside the car. Uncle Vernon was pointing at what looked like a large rock way out at sea. Perched on top of the rock was the most miserable little shack you could imagine.**

Sirius was shocked, "He made you stay there?"

Harry nodded glumly. "Until Hagrid came."

**One thing was certain, there was no television in there.**

"Well, that's such an important thing isn't it?" Hermione said.

"It is in Dudley's mind," was Harry's only response.

**"Storm forecast for tonight!" said Uncle Vernon gleefully, clapping his hands together. "And this gentleman's kindly agreed to lend us his boat!"**

**A toothless old man came ambling up to them, pointing, with a rather wicked grin, at an old rowboat bobbing in the iron-grey water below them.**

**"I've already got us some rations," said Uncle Vernon, "so all aboard!"**

**It was freezing in the boat. Icy sea spray and rain crept down their necks and a chilly wind whipped their faces. After what seemed like hours they reached the rock, where Uncle Vernon, slipping and sliding, led the way to the broken-down house.**

**The inside was horrible; it smelled strongly of seaweed, the wind whistled through the gaps in the wooden walls, and the fireplace was damp and empty. There were only two rooms.**

**Uncle Vernon's rations turned out to be a bag of crisps each and four bananas. He tried to start a fire but the empty crisp packets just smoked and shrivelled up.**

**"Could do with some of those letters now, eh?" he said cheerfully.**

**He was in a very good mood. Obviously he thought nobody stood a chance of reaching them here in a storm to deliver post. Harry privately agreed, though the thought didn't cheer him up at all.**

**As night fell, the promised storm blew up around them. Spray from the high waves splattered the walls of the hut and a fierce wind rattled the filthy windows. Aunt Petunia found a few mouldy blankets in the second room and made up a bed for Dudley on the moth-eaten sofa. She and Uncle Vernon went off to the lumpy bed next door and Harry was left to find the softest bit of floor he could and to curl up under the thinnest, most ragged blanket.**

"Those assh–" James jumped up and shouted before Harry pulled him down.

"It's nothing to worry about dad," Harry reassured him.

James practically blew his head. "NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT! THEY'RE MAKING YOU SLEEP ON THE FLOOR WHEN THERE'S A STORM WITH THE SMALLEST BLANKET IN THE SHACK!"

"I'm used to it," Harry muttered.

"You should fight back, Harry," said Fred.

Harry snorted. "What good will that do? I don't particularly like having black eyes, thanks!"

"Well, when you're seventeen you can hex their butts off!" George added.

"I doubt I'll be living with them when I'm seventeen," Harry said.

**The storm raged more and more ferociously as the night went on. Harry couldn't sleep. He shivered and turned over, trying to get comfortable, his stomach rumbling with hunger. Dudley's snores were drowned by the low rolls of thunder that started near midnight. The lighted dial of Dudley's watch, which was dangling over the edge of the sofa on his fat wrist, told Harry he'd be eleven in ten minutes' time. He lay and watched his birthday tick nearer, wondering if the Dursleys would remember at all, wondering where the letter-writer was now.**

**Five minutes to go. Harry heard something creak outside. He hoped the roof wasn't going to fall in, although he might be warmer if it did.**

"So optimistic: I hope the roof doesn't fall in, then again I might be warmer if it did!" Ron snorted.

"It is being optimistic! I said I would be warmer if it did! That's being optimistic!" said Harry defensively.

"Whatever," Ron muttered.

**Four minutes to go. Maybe the house in Privet Drive would be so full of letters when they got back that he'd be able to steal one somehow.**

**Three minutes to go. Was that the sea, slapping hard on the rock like that? And (two minutes to go) what was that funny crunching noise? Was the rock crumbling into the sea?**

**One minute to go and he'd be eleven. Thirty seconds... twenty ... ten – nine – maybe he'd wake Dudley up, just to annoy him – **

"That's probably not the best idea, Harry," Lily said.

"Well, I didn't do it personally so you can't blame me," said Harry, which totally confused everyone.

**three – two – one – **

**BOOM.**

**The whole shack shivered and Harry sat bolt upright, staring at the door. Someone was outside, knocking to come in.**

"That's the end of that chapter," Hermione said.

"Right," Mrs Weasley stood up. "Time for bed. Chop, chop!"

Grumbling and moaning the eight teenagers (excluding Malfoy) made their way up some rickety steps and found their bedrooms.

"Found ours!" Neville said brightly from along the corridor. Harry and Ron traipsed along to find a door with a plaque on it: _Harry J. Potter, Ronald B. Weasley and Neville F. Longbottom_. Further along the hallway, the twins disappeared into one door while the three girls closed their door behind them.

Harry opened the door to find a room quite like their dormitory in Gryffindor Tower. There were three four-poster beds with scarlet and gold hangings and a small, wobbly table with three armchairs surrounding it.

Harry turned around shrugging, "It's good enough for me."

Within ten minutes they were all fast asleep and dreaming.

* * *

Hoped you liked it! Please review!


	5. Chapter 4 The Keeper of the Keys

Hey guys! Sorry for not uploading sooner! I usually use Wattpad, but this story was taken down from there recently because of copyright infringements. I hope it doesn't happen here!

Thanks to these people for reviewing: LuckyCat1, Guest, Pikachu79, PerfectlyStrange and KoreanMusicFan!

If you spot any errors in my writing, please tell me so I can fix it immediately!

Thanks, Fizzy

**Chapter 4**

"SIRIUS BLACK AND JAMES POTTER! GET OUT OF THE KITCHEN! AND YOU TOO, REMUS!" Molly's screech woke the inhabitants of the Room of Requirement.

Murmurs, mumbles and grumbles started up around the Room of Requirement.

"Shut up mum! I'm trying to sleep!" came the shout from the twins' room.

Ron buried his face in his pillow, mumbling about spiders.

Neville simply snored and rolled over.

Ginny was complaining to Hermione two doors down and from down the hallway. Malfoy was…

"Just what does the old dumpling think she is shouting about? Can't anyone honestly get a bit of sleep around here? My father will hear about this…"

Harry swung his legs out of bed, grabbed his wand and marched out of the room.

Malfoy was still grumbling quietly when Harry reached him.

"Say that again you coward!" Harry pointed his wand into Malfoy's face.

Malfoy sneered. "I'd rather not. Mentioning the old bag in such a short amount of time makes my skin boil."

"I can make it boil if you want!" snarled Harry.

A silky voice spoke behind Harry, "What is going on here?"

Harry spun around to face a smirking Snape.

"What has Mr Malfoy done to deserve such treatment, Potter? I think that'll be ten points from Gryffindor. Don't let me see it happening again otherwise it'll be fifty and your wand for the day." With that Snape strode down the hallway.

Two minutes later, Harry entered the kitchen with a disgruntled look on his face.

"What's up champ?" James asked as Harry sat down next to him.

"Snape," was Harry's only reply.

James' eyes lit up. "What did he do?" James said eagerly.

"No, James," Lily interrupted. "Whatever he did he probably did it to provoke you and we don't need him to be left hanging by his ankle."

Harry went on to explain anyway. "Well, I heard Malfoy calling Mrs Weasley something… rude so I went and told him to say it again when Snape came up behind me and took ten points from Gryffindor." Harry then turned to Professor McGonagall, "Couldn't you put it back on, please Professor?"

McGonagall didn't answer just turned to Lily. "Thank you Lily, for making such wonderful scrambled eggs. Ten points to Gryffindor." As she turned back to her eggs, Harry could have sworn she winked.

Lily looked surprised. "But I didn't make any scrambled…" she trailed off getting McGonagall's point.

Just then a phoenix Patronus flew into the room. It spoke in Dumbledore's voice, "Please meet in the living room in five minutes to start reading the fourth chapter. Thank you."

Five minutes later the group had gathered and taken their seats. James was holding open the book waiting for everyone to stop talking. After a few moments everyone was looking at James, ready to start.

"Here we go then."

**Chapter 4 The Keeper of the Keys**

**BOOM. They knocked again. Dudley jerked awake. **

**"Where's the cannon?" he said stupidly.**

Sirius groaned. "We have to start the chapter reading about _him_?"

**There was a crash behind them and Uncle Vernon came skidding into the room. He was holding a rifle in his hands – now they knew what had been in the long, thin package he had brought with them.**

**"Who's there?" he shouted. "I warn you – I'm armed!"**

"That was a fat lot of good wasn't it?" Harry snorted quietly.

**There was a pause. Then – **

**SMASH!**

**The door was hit with such force that it swung clean off its hinges and with a deafening crash landed flat on the floor.**

**A giant of a man was standing in the doorway. His face was almost completely hidden by a long, shaggy mane of hair and a wild, tangled beard, but you could make out his eyes, glinting like black beetles under all the hair.**

"Hagrid!" The yell echoed through the room.

**The giant squeezed his way into the hut, stooping so that his head just brushed the ceiling. He bent down, picked up the door and fitted it easily back into its frame. The noise of the storm outside dropped a little. He turned to look at them all. **

**"Couldn't make us a cup o' tea, could yeh? It's not been an easy journey…"**

**He strode over to the sofa where Dudley sat frozen with fear.**

"Coward," Sirius muttered.

**"Budge up, yeh great lump," said the stranger. **

**Dudley squeaked and ran to hide behind his mother, who was crouching, terrified, behind Uncle Vernon.**

"Go run behind mummy did we?" Malfoy mocked. For once, no insults were thrown back at him.

**"An' here's Harry!" said the giant.**

**Harry looked up into the fierce, wild, shadowy face and saw that the beetle eyes were crinkled in a smile.**

**"Las' time I saw you, you was only a baby," said the giant. "Yeh look a lot like yer dad, but yeh've got yet mum's eyes."**

James chuckled. "How often do you get told that?"

"Every time I meet someone who used to know you two." Lily flinched when he used past tense.

**Uncle Vernon made a funny rasping noise.**

**"I demand that you leave at once, sir!" he said. "You are breaking and entering!"**

**"Ah, shut up, Dursley, yeh great prune," **

"Remind me to give Hagrid a present, will you?" Sirius said to no one in particular, a rather large grin on his face.

**said the giant. He reached over the back of the sofa, jerked the gun out of Uncle Vernon's hands, bent it into a knot as easily as if it had been made of rubber, and threw it into a corner of the room.**

"Woah…" The twin's faces were identical masks of awe.

"Yeah, it was awesome," Harry told them.

**Uncle Vernon made another funny noise, like a mouse being trodden on.**

"Thanks, Harry! A new product!"

"A new product for _what_?" Mrs Weasley's voice rang out.

Fred and George shifted in their seats uncomfortably before answering in harmony, "Nothing, mum."

**"Anyway – Harry," said the giant, turning his back on the Dursleys, "a very happy birthday to yeh. Got summat fer yeh here – I mighta sat on it at some point, but it'll taste all right."**

**From an inside pocket of his black overcoat he pulled a slightly squashed box. Harry opened it with trembling fingers. Inside was a large, sticky chocolate cake with _Happy Birthday Harry_ written on it in green icing.**

**Harry looked up at the giant. He meant to say thank you, but the words got lost on the way to his mouth, and what he said instead was, "Who are you?"**

Hermione snorted. "Nice Harry."

"Well, it was kind of a shock to start my birthday to a giant knocking on the door with a birthday cake for me," Harry defended himself. "Don't tell me you could do any better."

"At least I would say thank you first!"

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever you say, Hermione. Keep dreaming," Harry had a half-joking, half-sarcastic smile on his face which Hermione apparently missed as she turned away with a shake of her head.

**The giant chuckled.**

**"True, I haven't introduced meself. Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts."**

**He held out an enormous hand and shook Harry's whole arm.**

**"What about that tea then, eh?" he said, rubbing his hands together. "I'd not say no ter summat stronger if yeh've got it, mind."**

James, Sirius and Remus exchanged a glance then looked away with large smiles on the faces. Lily, catching the look, sighed with exasperation. "I don't know _why_ I married you James." Snape pressed his lips together so hard that they almost disappeared.

James gave her an impish grin. "'Cos you know you love me, Evans. Deep down. It did take me seven years for you to admit it but it was worth it."

"_Don't call me Evans_!"

**His eyes fell on the empty grate with the shrivelled crisp packets in it and he snorted. He bent down over the fireplace; they couldn't see what he was doing but when he drew back a second later, there was a roaring fire there. It filled the whole damp hut with flickering light and Harry felt the warmth wash over him as though he'd sunk into a hot bath.**

**The giant sat back down on the sofa, which sagged under his weight, and began taking all sorts of things out of the pockets of his coat: a copper kettle, a squashy package of sausages, a poker, a teapot, several chipped mugs, and a bottle of some amber liquid that he took a swig from before starting to make tea. Soon the hut was full of the sound and smell of sizzling sausage. Nobody said a thing while the giant was working, but as he slid the first six fat, juicy, slightly burnt sausages from the poker, Dudley fidgeted a little. Uncle Vernon said sharply, "Don't touch anything he gives you, Dudley."**

"Obnoxious Muggles," Ron muttered.

Hermione looked at him surprised.

"What?" he asked.

"Well, I didn't… you know… _know_ that you knew that word," she answered, her face flushing.

Ron frowned. "What, Muggles?"

"No! Obnoxious!"

Ron's frown deepened. "And why wouldn't I?" he asked coldly.

Hermione's face was beet red. "Well… you've never been exactly intellectual, have you?"

While Hermione and Ron bickered away, James, Sirius and Remus were betting on how long it would take them to get together.

"By the end of this year," Sirius whispered, holding out his Galleons.

"No, that's much too early," James argued. "It'll be some time when they're seventeen. Like me and Lily."

Remus raised his eyebrows. "Well, considering that I've known both of them longer than you, I'm going to take an educated guess that they'll show signs of it when they're sixteen but won't actually say they like each other until they're seventeen." As Remus finished speaking a letter appeared in his hand with a silver flash. He read it aloud.

_Dear James, Sirius and Remus,_

_Just to make it easier: Remus wins._

_Harry J. Potter_

"Ha! Pay up boys!" Remus held out his hands and James and Sirius poured their money into them, moaning and groaning.

"What did you bet on?" Tonks asked, her eyes shining. "I love a good bet."

"Oh, just on how long it would take –" Sirius started eagerly.

"You don't want to know. Nothing exciting," Remus interrupted.

James frowned. "Why can't we tell them?"

Remus rolled his eyes. "It's your funeral."

James turned back to everyone. "Well, while Ron and Hermione were arguing about his IQ we were trying to figuring out how long it would take them to get together."

"WHAT?" Hermione screeched, her voice echoing around the room.

James visibly flinched. "Sorry! Didn't know you would take it badly! At least Ron seems cool with it." Ron's face was pale and blank. At the word 'Ron' he seemed to wake out of a trance.

"Oh," he said. "Well, no I'm not exactly 'cool with it' but Remus probably said that we'd never get together, right Remus?"

"Ah… well…" muttered Remus.

"Remus said that you would start showing more signs of it next year but the year after you would _finally_ start dating!" Sirius explained enthusiastically.

While the new sunk in the room was completely silent. Then came chaos. Ron and Hermione both looked at each other with looks of disgust and said simultaneously, "That is _not_ happening." The twins had burst out laughing while they traded money, evidently they had made a bet too. Neville and Luna were both smiling. Mrs Weasley looked at her son proudly while Mr Weasley sat still, thinking things over. Dumbledore and McGonagall exchanged a smile, they had both known it was coming. Lily and Ginny were talking about something, their eyes occasionally flicking over to where Harry was sitting in shock: his best friends get together after five years of non-stop arguing? Snape didn't really care and sat stiffly.

Malfoy, however was sneering. "How lovely," his loud drawl bringing the room to a silence. "I personally thought it would Granger and Potter but then again blood traitors are just as bad as Muggle-borns. Better to pair them up together."

Harry, Ginny, Fred, George, Mr Weasley and Sirius both stood up in harmony and advanced towards him.

"How dare you –" Harry hissed.

"– insult them –" Ginny glared at Malfoy.

"– you terribly spoilt brat –" Fred and George chorused.

"– as bad as your dratted father –" Mr Weasley added.

"– and I'm ashamed to be related to you!" Sirius growled as he lunged at him.

Before Sirius reached Malfoy a loud bang echoed around the room and Sirius flew backwards, landing in a crumpled heap on the floor. Immediately, James, Remus and Lily ran to him.

Standing in front of Malfoy was Snape, his wand held aloft. "Dear, dear," he said silkily, "four Gryffindor students plus two grown men trying to attack a helpless boy. Forty points from Gryffindor plus detention for all four of you, my office the next night after we finish this blasted reading. As for you Miss Weasley, had you not learned from your brothers mistakes? They were banned from Quidditch from attacking the same person so I'm sure it's only fair to take that privilege away from you too."

"You can't do that!" Harry said desperately.

"Can't I?" Snape replied.

"Severus." Dumbledore's voice made them turn. "I understand your fury of being trapped –"

Even though those words were intended for Snape they still angered Harry. "Trapped? Trapped? Are you saying you understand what it's like to be trapped? You kept me at Privet Drive for a whole month! Now you won't even look at me! I heard Mad-Eye talking about how Voldemort was possessing me when Mr Weasley was attacked! You don't know how that feels!" All of this came from Harry in a mad rush of words.

"Harry, please –" Dumbledore sounded like he was pleading.

"Don't waste your breath talking to me. You obviously think I'm not worth it," said Harry coldly.

"Don't talk to Dumbledore like that Harry!" Lily scolded.

"No Lily," Dumbledore protested. "I deserve it. However Harry, if the reason for I'm avoiding you is not clear by the end of the fifth book I will tell you. Deal?"

"Deal," Harry murmured.

"Now, Severus," Dumbledore turned to Snape. "As I was saying I understand but do not take it out on the children. If I may say this Mr Malfoy had it coming for him. That is not how we treat people. So for now, I'm going to put those points back on and Miss Weasley can re-join the Gryffindor Quidditch Team. Mr Malfoy, however, will have twenty points off Slytherin."

Snape didn't say anything, just stood there. Dumbledore turned to everyone else. "Well, I think that's enough chitchat for now. So on with the reading James."

**The giant chuckled darkly.**

**"Yer great puddin' of a son don' need fattenin' anymore, Dursley, don' worry."**

"Go Hagrid!" Fred cheered.

"Own that Muggle!" George added

**He passed the sausages to Harry, who was so hungry he had never tasted anything so wonderful, but he still couldn't take his eyes off the giant. Finally, as nobody seemed about to explain anything, he said, "I'm sorry, but I still don't really know who you are."**

**The giant took a gulp of tea and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.**

**"Call me Hagrid," he said, "everyone does. An' like I told yeh, I'm Keeper of Keys at Hogwarts – yeh'll know all about Hogwarts, o' course."**

"No," Harry muttered.

"But you should do," said Dumbledore.

**"Er – no," said Harry.**

**Hagrid looked shocked.**

**"Sorry," Harry said quickly.**

**"_Sorry?_" barked Hagrid, turning to stare at the Dursleys, who shrank back into the shadows. "It's them as should be sorry! I knew yeh weren't gettin' yer letters but I never thought yeh wouldn't even know abou' Hogwarts, fer cryin' out loud! Did yeh never wonder where yet parents learned it all?"**

**"All what?" asked Harry.**

**"ALL WHAT?" Hagrid thundered. "Now wait jus' one second!"**

**He had leapt to his feet. In his anger he seemed to fill the whole hut. The Dursleys were cowering against the wall.**

**"Do you mean ter tell me," he growled at the Dursleys, "that this boy – this boy! – knows nothin' abou' – about ANYTHING?"**

"Wow Hagrid. Real descriptive," said Ginny sarcastically.

"Well, Hagrid's not exactly known for his brain power is he?" Ron said.

**Harry thought this was going a bit far. He had been to school, after all, and his marks weren't bad.**

**"I know _some_ things," he said. "I can, you know, do maths and stuff." **

**But Hagrid simply waved his hand and said, "About _our_ world, I mean. _Your_ world. _My_ world. _Yer parents' world_."**

**"What world?"**

**Hagrid looked as if he was about to explode.**

"I'm glad he didn't," Harry muttered.

**"DURSLEY!" he boomed.**

**Uncle Vernon, who had gone very pale, whispered something that sounded like "Mimblewimble". Hagrid stared wildly at Harry.**

**"But yeh must know about yer mum and dad," he said. "I mean, they're _famous_. _You're_ famous."**

"We would never have guessed," said Ron sarcastically.

Luna laughed distantly. "You're funny."

"Uh… thank you?"

**"What? My – my mum and dad weren't famous, were they?"**

**"Yeh don' know... yeh don' know..."**

"No, I don't know," Harry confirmed.

**Hagrid ran his fingers through his hair, fixing Harry with a bewildered stare.**

**"Yeh don' know what yeh _are_?" he said finally.**

**Uncle Vernon suddenly found his voice.**

**"Stop!" he commanded. "Stop right there, sir! I forbid you to tell the boy anything!"**

**A braver man than Vernon Dursley would have quailed under the furious look Hagrid now gave him; when Hagrid spoke, his every syllable trembled with rage.**

**"You never told him? Never told him what was in the letter Dumbledore left fer him? I was there! I saw Dumbledore leave it, Dursley! An' you've kept it from him all these years?"**

**"Kept _what_ from me?" said Harry eagerly.**

**"STOP! I FORBID YOU!" yelled Uncle Vernon in panic.**

**Aunt Petunia gave a gasp of horror.**

"Of course she did," Lily said disgustedly. "Just the kind of thing she would do."

**"Ah, go boil yer heads, both of yeh,"**

"Wish they did," muttered Harry. Ron and Hermione gave him sympathetic looks.

**said Hagrid. "Harry – yer a wizard."**

"Harry's a wizard, Harry's a wizard," the twins chanted.

"Short and quick to the punch," McGonagall said approvingly. "How it should be done."

**There was silence inside the hut. Only the sea and the whistling wind could be heard.**

**"I'm a _what_?" gasped Harry.**

**"A wizard, o' course," said Hagrid, sitting back down on the sofa, which groaned and sank even lower, "an' a thumpin' good'un, I'd say, once yeh've been trained up a bit. With a mum an' dad like yours, what else would yeh be? An' I reckon it's abou' time yeh read yer letter."**

"Finally," McGonagall said.

"Yes," Harry agreed, "finally. After hundreds of letters."

**Harry stretched out his hand at last to take the yellowish envelope, addressed in emerald green to _Mr H. Potter, The Floor, Hut-on-the-Rock, The Sea_. He pulled out the letter and read:**

**_HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY_**

**_Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore (Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)_**

"Lot of titles, sir," Hermione smiled at the Headmaster.

"And I don't doubt that you will have just as many, Miss Granger," he smiled back. Hermione flushed pink with delight.

**_Dear Mr Potter,_**

**_We are pleased to inform you that you have a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment._**

**_Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later than 31 July. _**

**_Yours sincerely,_**

**_Minerva McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress_**

**Questions exploded inside Harry's head like fireworks**

"Woo!" Fred and George cheered. "Fireworks!"  
**and he couldn't decide which to ask first. After a few minutes he stammered, "What does it mean, they await my owl?"**

Laughter burst out through the room. James grinned at his son. "Out of all the questions you could ask you say 'what does it mean, they await my owl?'"

"Well, it was a helpful question," Harry mumbled, embarrassed.

"How so?" Remus asked.

"You'll see."

**"Gallopin' Gorgons, that reminds me," said Hagrid, clapping a hand to his forehead with enough force to knock over a cart horse,**

Ginny shuddered. "I would _not_ like to get hit by that."

"Neither would I," Harry said. "But unfortunately, I have been in situations where Hagrid has felt the need to clap me on the back or hug me. Sometimes it isn't so pleasant."

**and from yet another pocket inside his overcoat he pulled an owl – a real, live, rather ruffled-looking owl – a long quill and a roll of parchment. With his tongue between his teeth he scribbled a note that Harry could read upside-down:**

Sirius whistled. "You can read Hagrid's writing upside-down? I can barely read it right-side up!"

Remus laughed. "Well, that's not surprising Sirius. Dogs aren't known for their eyesight."

"Oh, ha-ha Moony."

"Can we please not make jokes about transforming so close to the date?" Lily asked.

James rolled his eyes. "Lils, Remus, Sirius and I started doing this twenty-two years ago. It's fine."

"Yeah, for you. This is my first time."

"Just try not to think about it," Sirius advised. "Then you won't be so nervous." Lily nodded as James began to read again.

**_Dear Mr Dumbledore,_**

**_Given Harry his letter. Taking him to buy his things tomorrow. Weather's horrible. Hope you're well. Hagrid_**

**Hagrid rolled up the note, gave it to the owl, which clamped it in its beak, went to the door and threw the owl out into the storm.**

"Lovely," Ginny muttered.

"Poor owl," Lily said sympathetically.

**Then he came back and sat down as though this was as normal as talking on the telephone.**

"What's a phelly-tone again?" Ron asked, confused.

Hermione laughed. "It's a telephone Ron. Muggles use it to communicate. It's actually faster than owls. You just type in a number and start talking."

"And how exactly does that work?" Mr Weasley asked eagerly.

"Arthur!" Mrs Weasley scolded him. "Not now!"

"Yes, dear," Mr Weasley said meekly.

**Harry realized his mouth was open and closed it quickly.**

**"Where was I?" said Hagrid, but at that moment, Uncle Vernon, still ashen-faced but looking very angry, moved into the firelight.**

**"He's not going," he said.**

"He really is stupid," Remus said. "He really thinks that he can tell someone like Hagrid off. Merlin, one day his stupidity is going to kill him."

"Good," Harry whispered quietly so only James heard. James grinned before continuing.

**Hagrid grunted.**

**"I'd like ter see a great Muggle like you stop him," he said.**

**"A what?" said Harry, interested.**

**"A Muggle," said Hagrid. "It's what we call non-magic folk like them. An' it's your bad luck you grew up in a family o' the biggest Muggles I ever laid eyes on."**

**"We swore when we took him in we'd put a stop to that rubbish," said Uncle Vernon, "swore we'd stamp it out of him! Wizard, indeed!"**

There was a shocked silence. Harry looked down.

"Albus –" McGonagall started.

"Not now, Minerva," Dumbledore silenced her. "Harry, I'm so very sorry that you had to grow up with this but it protected you."

"HOW WOULD IT PROTECT ME?" Harry shouted. "THEY'RE MUGGLES! IF VOLDEMORT CAME KNOCKING IT'S NOT LIKE THEY WOULD BE ABLE TO SAVE ME! THEY'D PROBABLY HAND ME OVER TO HIM! ONE LESS MOUTH TO FEED!"

"As long as you lived with your aunt, Harry, you are safe from Voldemort," Dumbledore said slowly as though Harry hadn't just yelled at him.

"But he did!" Harry protested. "Last year! When he killed Cedric! He could have killed me then easily!"

"No, I don't believe he could've. But that's all for now. I'll tell you more later. That's if it doesn't come up in these books." Dumbledore gestured to the pile of books

**"You _knew_?" said Harry. "You _knew_ I'm a – a wizard?"**

**"Knew!" shrieked Aunt Petunia suddenly. "_Knew_! Of course we knew! How could you not be, my dratted sister being what she was? Oh, she got a letter just like that and disappeared off to that – that _school_ – and came home every holiday with her pockets full of frog-spawn, turning teacups into rats. I was the only one who saw her for what she was – a freak! But for my mother and father, oh no, it was Lily this and Lily that, they were proud of having a witch in the family!"**

"Oh, Tuney," Lily said sadly. "Why so bitter?"

**She stopped to draw a deep breath and then went ranting on. It seemed she had been wanting to say all this for years.**

**"Then she met that Potter at school and they left and got married and had you, and of course I knew you'd be just the same, just as strange, just as – as – _abnormal_ – and then, if you please, she went and got herself blown up and we got landed with you!"**

**Harry had gone very white. As soon as he found his voice he said, "Blown up? You told me they died in a car crash!"**

**"CAR CRASH!" roared Hagrid, jumping up so angrily that the Dursleys scuttled back to their corner. "How could a car crash kill Lily an' James Potter? It's an outrage! A scandal! Harry Potter not knowin' his own story when every kid in our world knows his name!" **

**"But why? What happened?" Harry asked urgently.**

**The anger faded from Hagrid's face. He looked suddenly anxious.**

**"I never expected this," he said, in a low, worried voice. "I had no idea, when Dumbledore told me there might be trouble gettin' hold of yeh, how much yeh didn't know. Ah, Harry, I don' know if I'm the right person ter tell yeh –but someone's gotta – yeh can't go off ter Hogwarts not knowin'."**

"Yes," Hermione agreed. "That would be bad."

"Why?" Sirius asked.

Remus sighed. "Because Sirius, if Harry didn't know, someone would tell him a warped, twisted version that was nothing like the truth."

"I even read some books that accounted your rise to fame incorrectly," Hermione added.

"Oh no!" Ron mock gasped. "Hermione found a fault with a book! Everyone take cover!"

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Shut up Ronald. At least I have the ability to _read_ a book."

"Oooh!" Fred gasped. "Ickle Ronniekins just got payed out by a _girl_."

"You say that like being a girl is a bad thing," Hermione huffed.

"Well, it certainly isn't my preference," Ron said.

"Okay, okay you two break it up. And Fred stop winding them up," Harry told them.

**He threw a dirty look at the Dursleys.**

**"Well, it's best yeh know as much as I can tell yeh – mind, I can't tell yeh everythin', it's a great myst'ry, parts of it..."**

**He sat down, stared into the fire for a few seconds, and then said, "It begins, I suppose, with – with a person called – but it's incredible yeh don't know his name, everyone in our world knows –"**

**"Who?"**

**"Well – I don' like sayin' the name if I can help it. No one does."**

**"Why not?"**

**"Gulpin' gargoyles, Harry, people are still scared. Blimey, this is difficult. See, there was this wizard who went... bad. As bad as you could go. Worse. Worse than worse. His name was..."**

**Hagrid gulped, but no words came out.**

**"Could you write it down?" Harry suggested.**

**"Nah – can't spell it.**

"Trust Hagrid not being able to spell it," Remus muttered.

**All right –_ Voldemort_."**

Half of the room flinched at the name. Harry rolled his eyes.

**Hagrid shuddered. "Don' make me say it again. Anyway, this – this wizard, about twenty years ago now, started lookin' fer followers. Got 'em, too – some were afraid, some just wanted a bit o' his power, 'cause he was gettin' himself power, all right. Dark days, Harry. Didn't know who ter trust, didn't dare get friendly with strange wizards or witches... Terrible things happened. He was takin' over. 'Course, some stood up to him – an' he killed 'em. Horribly. One o' the only safe places left was Hogwarts. Reckon Dumbledore's the only one You-Know-Who was afraid of. Didn't dare try takin' the school, not jus' then, anyway.**

**"Now, yer mum an' dad were as good a witch an' wizard as I ever knew. Head Boy an' Girl at Hogwarts in their day! Suppose the myst'ry is why You-Know-Who never tried to get 'em on his side before... probably knew they were too close ter Dumbledore ter want anythin' ter do with the Dark Side.**

**"Maybe he thought he could persuade 'em... maybe he just wanted 'em outta the way. All anyone knows is, he turned up in the village where you was all living, on Hallowe'en ten years ago. You was just a year old. He came ter yer house an' – an' –"**

**Hagrid suddenly pulled out a very dirty, spotted handkerchief and blew his nose with a sound like a foghorn.**

**"Sorry," he said. "But it's that sad – knew yer mum an' dad, an' nicer people yeh couldn't find – anyway –**

**"You-Know-Who killed 'em. An' then – an' this is the real myst'ry of the thing – he tried to kill you, too. Wanted ter make a clean job of it, I suppose, or maybe he just liked killin' by then.**

Lily shuddered. "How can anyone like killing people? It's the foulest thing on Earth!"

"Hear, hear," Harry agreed hollowly.

**But he couldn't do it. Never wondered how you got that mark on yer forehead? That was no ordinary cut. That's what yeh get when a powerful, evil curse touches yeh – took care of yer mum an' dad an' yer house, even –but it didn't work on you, an' that's why yer famous, Harry. No one ever lived after he decided ter kill 'em, no one except you, an' he'd killed some o' the best witches an' wizards of the age – the McKinnons,**

Lily, James and Remus all turned to look at Sirius who in turn, looked away from them.

"I don't want your sympathy," Sirius growled roughly. "She's gone. Never coming back."

"Sirius please," Lily said to him. "She was my friend too."

Snape looked up, his black eyes glittering with interest. "Are we talking about Marlene McKinnon? I was there when she was killed, you know."

Sirius' head snapped up and jumped from his seat. "SHE WAS MY FIANCÉE YOU BASTARD! AND YOU WERE THERE WHEN SHE WAS KILLED! DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH PAIN THAT CAUSES ME! OH, WAIT! I IMAGINE JUST AS MUCH AS IT HURT YOU WHEN LILY DIED! WHAT DID YOU DO? GO TO THE HOUSE AND HUG HER LIFELESS BODY LIKE I DID? NO, I DON'T THINK YOU DID! YOU WERE TOO BUSY LAUGHING WITH MALFOY PROBABLY!"

Snape snarled at Sirius. "I was made to come along you idiot. And I do know the pain you're in because guess what? I wasn't laughing with Malfoy, I was at Godric's Hollow crying my heart out at Lily's body while Potter lay screaming in his cot!"

Sirius looked shocked. "Y-you did?"

"Yes."

"You had a fiancée?" Harry asked.

"Yeah," Sirius muttered. "But then she was killed just before Voldemort tried to kill you. If she could have just stayed until after it had happened, I wouldn't have gone to Azkaban. She would have kept me sane."

"I'm so sorry Sirius," Hermione murmured.

"Didn't I just say that I didn't want your sympathy?" Sirius snapped.

"S-sorry."

"Shall we keep reading?" James asked Sirius gently.

"I suppose."

**the Bones, the Prewetts**

This time everyone was looking at Mrs Weasley. Mr Weasley put an arm around her shoulder.

"It's all right dear," he said soothingly.

"I just can't believe they're all gone! The twins and Lucy were the best siblings you could ever wish for," Mrs Weasley sniffled.

"The twins are the ones our middle names come from right?" George asked.

"Yeah and the first letters of our names?" Fred added.

Molly smiled through her tears. "Yes, Fred Gideon and George Fabian."

Ginny wrinkled her nose in thought. "Just wondering but wouldn't you have done Fred Fabian and George Gideon?"

"We thought it would be too much of a mouthful," Mr Weasley replied. "You can continue reading James."

**– an' you was only a baby, an' you lived."**

**Something very painful was going on in Harry's mind. As Hagrid's story came to a close, he saw again the blinding flash of green light, more clearly than he had ever remembered it before – and he remembered something else, for the first time in his life – a high, cold, cruel laugh.**

Lily shivered. "I remember that too."

"I can remember more now," Harry told her. "Maybe someday I'll be able to remember it all."

**Hagrid was watching him sadly.**

**"Took yeh from the ruined house myself, on Dumbledore's orders. Brought yeh ter this lot..."**

**"Load of old tosh," said Uncle Vernon. Harry jumped, he had almost forgotten that the Dursleys were there. Uncle Vernon certainly seemed to have got back his courage. He was glaring at Hagrid and his fists were clenched.**

**"Now, you listen here, boy," he snarled. "I accept there's something strange about you, probably nothing a good beating wouldn't have cured**

"He wouldn't dare!" James snarled.

"Nah he probably would've," Harry told him. "It's Uncle Vernon; he's not going to cut me any slack because I'm his nephew."

"Well he should," James muttered before continuing reading.

**– and as for all this about your parents, well, they were weirdos, no denying it, and the world's better off without them in my opinion – asked for all they got, getting mixed up with these wizarding types – just what I expected, always knew they'd come to a sticky end –"**

"Oh when I get my hands on him," Sirius muttered, "he'll wish he never married that dratted woman."

**But at that moment, Hagrid leapt from the sofa and drew a battered pink umbrella from inside his coat. Pointing this at Uncle Vernon like a sword, he said, "I'm warning you, Dursley – I'm warning you – one more word... "**

**In danger of being speared on the end of an umbrella by a bearded giant, Uncle Vernon's courage failed again; he flattened himself against the wall and fell silent.**

**"That's better," said Hagrid, breathing heavily and sitting back down on the sofa, which this time sagged right down to the floor.**

**Harry, meanwhile, still had questions to ask, hundreds of them.**

**"But what happened to Vol – sorry – I mean, You-Know-Who?"**

"Wouldn't we all like to know," Mr Weasley sighed.

**"Good question, Harry. Disappeared. Vanished. Same night he tried ter kill you. Makes yeh even more famous. That's the biggest myst'ry, see... he was gettin' more an' more powerful – why'd he go?**

**"Some say he died. Codswallop, in my opinion. Dunno if he had enough human left in him to die. Some say he's still out there, bidin' his time, like, but I don' believe it. People who was on his side came back ter ours. Some of 'em came outta kinda trances. Don't reckon they could've done if he was comin' back.**

"That doesn't make sense," Hermione said. "Hagrid just said that he didn't think that Voldemort –" Cue the flinches, "had died but then he said that he wasn't coming back. That's not logical at _all_ –"

"Hermione," Ron interrupted. "We don't need an in-depth explanation on why Hagrid is wrong. Mr Potter please keep reading."

"Call me James. Mr Potter is too formal."

**"Most of us reckon he's still out there somewhere but lost his powers. Too weak to carry on. 'Cause somethin' about you finished him, Harry. There was somethin' goin' on that night he hadn't counted on – _I_ dunno what it was, no one does – but somethin' about you stumped him, all right."**

**Hagrid looked at Harry with warmth and respect blazing in his eyes, but Harry, instead of feeling pleased and proud, felt quite sure there had been a horrible mistake. A wizard? Him? How could he possibly be? He'd spent his life being clouted by Dudley and bullied by Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon; if he was really a wizard, why hadn't they been turned into warty toads every time they'd tried to lock him in his cupboard?**

"You're thinking about the completely wrong type of witches and wizards Harry," Hermione laughed.

"It would be cool for them to turn into toads though," Harry smiled. "I'd prefer them like that."

**If he'd once defeated the greatest sorcerer in the world,**

Ron looked confused. "When did you defeat Dumbledore?"

Harry laughed. "I didn't Ron. I meant Voldemort. I didn't know how bad he was then."

"If I might interject Mr Potter," McGonagall said. "We do not know if Voldemort is the worst there has ever been. There are wizarding communities all over the world."

"Yeah, yeah," Harry grumbled. "Right History lesson is over. Let's go back to reading."

**how come Dudley had always been able to kick him around like a football?**

**"Hagrid," he said quietly, "I think you must have made a mistake. I don't think I can be a wizard."**

"Wouldn't catch him saying that now would you George?" Fred nudged his twin.

"Definitely not Fred. How many times have you escaped You-Know-Who now? Let's see there was when you were a little tacker…"

"Then in your first year…"

"And your second…"

"And your fourth!"

The twins grinned at him. "Blimey Harry, I haven't even _seen_ him!" George told him.

"You don't want to," Harry informed them.

**To his surprise, Hagrid chuckled.**

**"Not a wizard, eh? Never made things happen when you was scared, or angry?"**

**Harry looked into the fire. Now he came to think about it... every odd thing that had ever made his aunt and uncle furious with him had happened when he, Harry, had been upset or angry... chased by Dudley's gang, he had somehow found himself out of their reach... dreading going to school with that ridiculous haircut, he'd managed to make it grow back... and the very last time Dudley had hit him, hadn't he got his revenge, without even realising he was doing it? Hadn't he set a boa constrictor on him?**

**Harry looked back at Hagrid, smiling, and saw that Hagrid was positively beaming at him.**

**"See?" said Hagrid. "Harry Potter, not a wizard – you wait, you'll be right famous at Hogwarts."**

**But Uncle Vernon wasn't going to give in without a fight.**

**"Haven't I told you he's not going?" he hissed. "He's going to Stonewall High and he'll be grateful for it. I've read those letters and he needs all sorts of rubbish – spell books and wands and –"**

**"If he wants ter go, a great Muggle like you won't stop him," growled Hagrid. "Stop Lily an' James Potter's son goin' ter Hogwarts! Yer mad. His name's been down ever since he was born. He's off ter the finest school of witchcraft and wizardry in the world. Seven years there and he won't know himself. He'll be with youngsters of his own sort, fer a change, an' he'll be under the greatest Headmaster Hogwarts ever had, Albus Dumbled–"**

**"I AM NOT PAYING FOR SOME CRACKPOT OLD FOOL TO TEACH HIM MAGIC TRICKS!"**

"He's really gone too far," Ginny said. "Hagrid won't like that."

**But he had finally gone too far. Hagrid seized his umbrella and whirled it over his head. "NEVER," he thundered, "– INSULT – ALBUS – DUMBLEDORE – IN –FRONT – OF – ME!"**

**He brought the umbrella swishing down through the air to point at Dudley –there was a flash of violet light, a sound like a firecracker, a sharp squeal, and the next second, Dudley was dancing on the spot with his hands clasped over his fat bottom, howling in pain. When he turned his back on them, Harry saw a curly pig's tail poking through a hole in his trousers.**

As the room burst out laughing McGonagall said to herself, "Oh, Hagrid. One day you really are going to get in trouble with your temper."

**Uncle Vernon roared. Pulling Aunt Petunia and Dudley into the other room, he cast one last terrified look at Hagrid and slammed the door behind them.**

**Hagrid looked down at his umbrella and stroked his beard.**

**"Shouldn'ta lost me temper," he said ruefully, "but it didn't work anyway. Meant ter turn him into a pig, but I suppose he was so much like a pig anyway there wasn't much left ter do."**

The room was filled with laughter again.

**He cast a sideways look at Harry under his bushy eyebrows.**

**"Be grateful if yeh didn't mention that ter anyone at Hogwarts," he said. "I'm – er – not supposed ter do magic, strictly speakin'. I was allowed ter do a bit ter follow yeh an' get yer letters to yeh an' stuff – one o' the reasons I was so keen ter take on the job –"**

**"Why aren't you supposed to do magic?" asked Harry.**

**"Oh, well – I was at Hogwarts meself but I – er – got expelled, ter tell yeh the truth. In me third year. They snapped me wand in half an' everything. But Dumbledore let me stay on as gamekeeper. Great man, Dumbledore." **

**"Why were you expelled?"**

**"It's gettin' late and we've got lots ter do tomorrow," said Hagrid loudly. "Gotta get up ter town, get all yer books an' that."**

**He took off his thick black coat and threw it to Harry.**

**"You can kip under that," he said. "Don' mind if it wriggles a bit, I think I still got a couple o' dormice in one o' the pockets."**

"And that's the end," James said.

"Pass it here, then," said Lily. James tossed her the book and she caught it neatly.

* * *

Please review guys! Thanks!


	6. Chapter 5 Diagon Alley

Hey everyone! Hope you liked last chapter and like this one too!

Has anyone read the Divergent trilogy? I have and it's amazing! No joke, guys, go read it!

Thanks to these reviewers: CartoonGurl201m, KoreanMusicFan and god of all! BTW I love your pen name, god of all.

Please tell me if there is any errors!

Thanks,

Fizzy

**Chapter 5 Diagon Alley**

**Harry woke early the next morning. Although he could tell it was daylight, he kept his eyes shut tight.**

**"It was a dream," he told himself firmly. "I dreamed a giant called Hagrid came to tell me I was going to a school for wizards. When I open my eyes I'll be at home in my cupboard."**

"Nope! Not happening Harry," George grinned at him.

Harry rolled his eyes. "I was eleven and had no idea what was happening, okay? Rack off."

**There was suddenly a loud tapping noise.**

**"And there's Aunt Petunia knocking on the door," Harry thought, his heart sinking. But he still didn't open his eyes. It had been such a good dream.**

**Tap. Tap. Tap.**

**"All right," Harry mumbled, "I'm getting up."**

**He sat up and Hagrid's heavy coat fell off him. The hut was full of sunlight, the storm was over, Hagrid himself was asleep on the collapsed sofa and there was an owl rapping its claw on the window, a newspaper held in its beak. **

**Harry scrambled to his feet, so happy he felt as though a large balloon was swelling inside him.**

"A balloon?" James asked.

"It's a rubbery plastic thing that you blow up. They're usually used for party decorations," explained Harry.

**He went straight to the window and jerked it open. The owl swooped in and dropped the newspaper on top of Hagrid, who didn't wake up. The owl then fluttered onto the floor and began to attack Hagrid's coat.**

**"Don't do that."**

**Harry tried to wave the owl out of the way, but it snapped its beak fiercely at him and carried on savaging the coat.**

**"Hagrid!" said Harry loudly. "There's an owl –"**

**"Pay him," Hagrid grunted into the sofa.**

Hermione sighed. "Oh Hagrid, he won't know how to pay."

"Hey Hermione, who delivered your letter?" asked Harry.

"Professor McGonagall," Hermione replied.

"Professor Dumbledore, do you deliver any?" Harry asked.

"No as Headmaster however as the Transfiguration Professor I did deliver a few, yes."

**"What?"**

**"He wants payin' fer deliverin' the paper. Look in the pockets." **

**Hagrid's coat seemed to be made of nothing_ but_ pockets – bunches of keys, slug pellets, balls of string, peppermint humbugs, teabags... finally, Harry pulled out a handful of strange-looking coins.**

**"Give him five Knuts," said Hagrid sleepily.**

**"Knuts?"**

**"The little bronze ones."**

**Harry counted out five little bronze coins and the owl held out his leg so Harry could put the money into a small leather pouch tied to it. Then it flew off through the open window.**

**Hagrid yawned loudly, sat up and stretched.**

"He was just about to get up!" Ginny protested. "Why'd he make you do it?"

Harry shrugged. "He was probably just sleepy."

"Why do you always defend everyone?" Fred asked.

The question caught Harry off-guard. "I don't defend _everyone_. Just my friends."

"Yeah but _why_?"

"Because they're my friends! Isn't that a good enough reason?" Harry was getting angry now.

"Sorry," Fred lowered his eyes.

**"Best be off, Harry, lots ter do today, gotta get up ter London an' buy all yer stuff fer school."**

**Harry was turning over the wizard coins and looking at them. He had just thought of something that made him feel as though the happy balloon inside him had got a puncture.**

**"Um – Hagrid?"**

**"Mm?" said Hagrid, who was pulling on his huge boots.**

**"I haven't got any money – and you heard Uncle Vernon last night – he won't pay for me to go and learn magic."**

**"Don't worry about that," said Hagrid, standing up and scratching his head. "D'yeh think yer parents didn't leave yeh anything?"**

**"But if their house was destroyed –"**

**"They didn' keep their gold in the house, boy! Nah, first stop fer us is Gringotts. Wizards' bank. Have a sausage, they're not bad cold – an' I wouldn' say no teh a bit o' yer birthday cake, neither."**

**"Wizards have _banks_?"**

**"Just the one. Gringotts. Run by goblins."**

**Harry dropped the bit of sausage he was holding.**

**"_Goblins?_"**

**"Yeah – so yeh'd be mad ter try an' rob it, I'll tell yeh that. Never mess with goblins, Harry. Gringotts is the safest place in the world fer anything yeh want ter keep safe – 'cept maybe Hogwarts. As a matter o' fact, I gotta visit Gringotts anyway. Fer Dumbledore. Hogwarts business." Hagrid drew himself up proudly. "He usually gets me ter do important stuff fer him. Fetchin' you –gettin' things from Gringotts – knows he can trust me, see.**

**"Got everythin'? Come on, then."**

**Harry followed Hagrid out onto the rock. The sky was quite clear now and the sea gleamed in the sunlight. The boat Uncle Vernon had hired was still there, with a lot of water in the bottom after the storm.**

**"How did you get here?" Harry asked, looking around for another boat. **

**"Flew," said Hagrid.**

**"_Flew?_"**

**"Yeah – but we'll go back in this. Not s'pposed ter use magic now I've got yeh."**

**They settled down in the boat, Harry still staring at Hagrid, trying to imagine him flying.**

**"Seems a shame ter row, though," said Hagrid, giving Harry another of his sideways looks. "If I was ter – er – speed things up a bit, would yeh mind not mentionin' it at Hogwarts?"**

**"Of course not," said Harry, eager to see more magic. Hagrid pulled out the pink umbrella again, tapped it twice on the side of the boat and they sped off toward land.**

**"Why would you be mad to try and rob Gringotts?" Harry asked.**

**"Spells – enchantments," said Hagrid, unfolding his newspaper as he spoke. "They say there's dragons guardin' the high-security vaults. And then yeh gotta find yer way – Gringotts is hundreds of miles under London, see. Deep under the Underground. Yeh'd die of hunger tryin' ter get out, even if yeh did manage ter get yer hands on summat."**

**Harry sat and thought about this while Hagrid read his newspaper, the _Daily Prophet_. Harry had learned from Uncle Vernon that people liked to be left alone while they did this, but it was very difficult, he'd never had so many questions in his life.**

**"Ministry o' Magic messin' things up as usual," Hagrid muttered, turning the page.**

**"There's a Ministry of Magic?" Harry asked, before he could stop himself.**

**"'Course," said Hagrid. "They wanted Dumbledore fer Minister, o' course, but he'd never leave Hogwarts, so old Cornelius Fudge got the job. Bungler if ever there was one. So he pelts Dumbledore with owls every morning, askin' fer advice."**

"Ah, Cornelius," Dumbledore sighed. "Such a stubborn man."

"I doubt that you get pelted with owls from him anymore, do you sir?" Harry asked hollowly.

"No, and to be truthful, I'm not sure if that's a good or bad thing," Dumbledore sighed again; this time heavier, with more meaning of years of knowledge and suffering.

**"But what does a Ministry of Magic _do_?"**

**"Well, their main job is to keep it from the Muggles that there's still witches an' wizards up an' down the country."**

**"Why?"**

**"_Why?_ Blimey, Harry, everyone'd be wantin' magic solutions to their problems. Nah, we're best left alone."**

**At this moment the boat bumped gently into the harbor wall. Hagrid folded up his newspaper, and they clambered up the stone steps onto the street.**

**Passers-by stared a lot at Hagrid as they walked through the little town to the station. Harry couldn't blame them. Not only was Hagrid twice as tall as anyone else, he kept pointing at perfectly ordinary things like parking meters and saying loudly, "See that, Harry? Things these Muggles dream up, eh?"**

**"Hagrid," said Harry, panting a bit as he ran to keep up, "did you say there are _dragons_ at Gringotts?"**

**"Well, so they say," said Hagrid. "Crikey, I'd like a dragon."**

"You might as well announce our existence to the world," Malfoy sneered. "And he just told you his weakness. Get him a dragon and he'll do anything."

"Only Slytherin would think about doing such a thing," Hermione shot back.

"Haven't I told you before Granger?" he said quietly. "I don't want the opinion of a _Mudblood_."

With snarls, Harry and Ron jumped up, pulling out their wands. Dumbledore and McGonagall were sitting in shock. The Weasleys exchanged glances. James, Sirius and Remus all looked at each other knowingly. Lily and Snape sat stock still, staring at each other from across the room.

Before Harry and Ron could reach Malfoy, Snape had turned to him.

"Levicorpus!" Snape shouted his wand pointed at Malfoy.

With a yelp, Malfoy was hoisted into the air. "Don't use that word," Snape growled. "Nothing good ever comes out of it."

"And of course you know this from experience, Snivellus, don't you?" Sirius jeered.

Snape whirled around, his eyes blazing. "You made me Black! If it wasn't for you and Potter, it wouldn't have happened!"

"It was always going to happen, Sev," Lily whispered. "You were always going to say it."

"I didn't' mean to. You know that Lily. It just –"

"Slipped out. I know. You told me before."

"I'm so sorry," Snape told her.

"It's okay. I got over it," Lily smiled.

Snape turned back to Malfoy. "Liberacorpus." Malfoy crumpled to the ground and looked up at Snape in shock. "Ten points from Slytherin and detention when we get out of here."

"But –" Malfoy protested.

"Is that anyway to talk to a teacher?" hissed Snape.

**"You'd _like_ one?"**

**"Wanted one ever since I was a kid – here we go."**

**They had reached the station. There was a train to London in five minutes' time. Hagrid, who didn't understand "Muggle money," as he called it, gave the notes to Harry so he could buy their tickets.**

**People stared more than ever on the train. Hagrid took up two seats and sat knitting what looked like a canary-yellow circus tent.**

**"Still got yer letter, Harry?" he asked as he counted stitches. **

**Harry took the parchment envelope out of his pocket.**

**"Good," said Hagrid. "There's a list there of everything yeh need."**

**Harry unfolded a second piece of paper he hadn't noticed the night before and read:**

**_HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY_**

**Uniform**

**_First-year students will require:_**

**_1. Three sets of plain work robes (black)_**

**_2. One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear_**

**_3. One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)_**

**_4. One winter cloak (black, silver fastenings)_**

**_Please note that all pupils' clothes should carry name tags_**

**Set Books**

**_All students should have a copy of each of the following:_**

**The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1) _by_ _Miranda Goshawk_**

**A History of Magic _by Bathilda Bagshot_**

**Magical Theory _by Adalbert Waffling_**

**A Beginners' Guide to Transfiguration _by Emetic Switch_**

**One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi _by Phyllida Spore_**

**Magical Drafts and Potions _by Arsenius Jigger_**

**Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them _by Newt Scamander_**

**The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection _by Quentin Trimble_**

**Other Equipment**

**_1 wand_**

**_ 1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2) _**

**_1 set _****_glass or crystal phials_**

**_1 _****_telescope _**

**_1 set _****_brass scales_**

**_Students may also bring an owl OR a cat OR a toad_**

**_PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST-YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICKS_**

"Except for Harry," Ron grinned at his best mate.

**"Can we buy all this in London?" Harry wondered aloud.**

**"If yeh know where to go," said Hagrid.**

**Harry had never been to London before. Although Hagrid seemed to know where he was going, he was obviously not used to getting there in an ordinary way. He got stuck in the ticket barrier on the Underground and complained loudly that the seats were too small and the trains too slow.**

**"I don't know how the Muggles manage without magic," he said, as they climbed a broken-down escalator which led up to a bustling road lined with shops.**

**Hagrid was so huge that he parted the crowd easily; all Harry had to do was keep close behind him. They passed book shops and music stores, hamburger restaurants and cinemas, but nowhere that looked as if it could sell you a magic wand. This was just an ordinary street full of ordinary people. Could there really be piles of wizard gold buried miles beneath them? Were there really shops that sold spell books and broomsticks? Might this not all be some huge joke that the Dursleys had cooked up? If Harry hadn't known that the Dursleys had no sense of humor, he might have thought so; yet somehow, even though everything Hagrid had told him so far was unbelievable, Harry couldn't help trusting him.**

**"This is it," said Hagrid, coming to a halt, "the Leaky Cauldron. It's a famous place."**

**It was a tiny, grubby-looking pub. If Hagrid hadn't pointed it out, Harry wouldn't have noticed it was there. The people hurrying by didn't glance at it. Their eyes slid from the big book shop on one side to the record shop on the other as if they couldn't see the Leaky Cauldron at all. In fact, Harry had the most peculiar feeling that only he and Hagrid could see it. Before he could mention this, Hagrid had steered him inside.**

**For a famous place, it was very dark and shabby. A few old women were sitting in a corner, drinking tiny glasses of sherry. One of them was smoking a long pipe. A little man in a top hat was talking to the old barman, who was quite bald and looked like a gummy walnut. The low buzz of chatter stopped when they walked in. Everyone seemed to know Hagrid; they waved and smiled at him, and the barman reached for a glass, saying, "The usual, Hagrid?"**

**"Can't, Tom, I'm on Hogwarts business," said Hagrid, clapping his great hand on Harry's shoulder and making Harry's knees buckle.**

**"Good Lord," said the barman, peering at Harry, "is this – can this be –?"**

**The Leaky Cauldron had suddenly gone completely still and silent.**

**"Bless my soul," whispered the old barman, "Harry Potter... what an honour."**

"And now we read about all the old people that drink in Leaky Cauldron meeting and praising Harry," Fred said cheerfully.

"What fun," muttered Ron sourly.

**He hurried out from behind the bar, rushed toward Harry and seized his hand, tears in his eyes.**

**"Welcome back, Mr Potter, welcome back."**

**Harry didn't know what to say. Everyone was looking at him. The old woman with the pipe was puffing on it without realising it had gone out. Hagrid was beaming.**

**Then there was a great scraping of chairs and, next moment, Harry found himself shaking hands with everyone in the Leaky Cauldron.**

**"Doris Crockford, Mr Potter, can't believe I'm meeting you at last."**

**"So proud, Mr Potter, I'm just so proud."**

**"Always wanted to shake your hand – I'm all of a flutter."**

**"Delighted, Mr Potter, just can't tell you, Diggle's the name, Dedalus Diggle."**

**"I've seen you before!" said Harry, as Dedalus Diggle's top hat fell off in his excitement. "You bowed to me once in a shop."**

**"He remembers!" cried Dedalus Diggle, looking around at everyone. "Did you hear that? He remembers me!" **

**Harry shook hands again and again – Doris Crockford kept coming back for more.**

**A pale young man made his way forward, very nervously. One of his eyes was twitching.**

"Oh, yay," said Harry sarcastically. "Let's all meet Quirrell."

**"Professor Quirrell!" said Hagrid. "Harry, Professor Quirrell will be one of your teachers at Hogwarts."**

**"P-P-Potter," stammered Professor Quirrell, grasping Harry's hand, "c-can't t-tell you how p-pleased I am to meet you."**

"I'm sure he was," Ron said darkly.

**"What sort of magic do you teach, Professor Quirrell?"**

**"D-Defence Against the D-D-Dark Arts," muttered Professor Quirrell, as though he'd rather not think about it. "N-not that you n-need it, eh, P-P-Potter?" He laughed nervously. "You'll be g-getting all your equipment, I suppose? I've g-got to p-pick up a new b-book on vampires, m-myself." He looked terrified at the very thought.**

**But the others wouldn't let Professor Quirrell keep Harry to himself. It took almost ten minutes to get away from them all. At last, Hagrid managed to make himself heard over the babble.**

**"Must get on – lots ter buy. Come on, Harry."**

**Doris Crockford shook Harry's hand one last time and Hagrid led them through the bar and out into a small, walled courtyard, where there was nothing but a trash can and a few weeds.**

**Hagrid grinned at Harry.**

**"Told yeh, didn't I? Told yeh you was famous. Even Professor Quirrell was tremblin' ter meet yeh – mind you, he's usually tremblin'."**

**"Is he always that nervous?"**

**"Oh, yeah. Poor bloke. Brilliant mind. He was fine while he was studyin' outta books but then he took a year off ter get some firsthand experience... They say he met vampires in the Black Forest and there was a nasty bit o' trouble with a hag – never been the same since. Scared of the students, scared of his own subject – now, where's me umbrella?"**

**Vampires? Hags? Harry's head was swimming. Hagrid, meanwhile, was counting bricks in the wall above the trash can.**

**"Three up... two across…" he muttered. "Right, stand back, Harry."**

**He tapped the wall three times with the point of his umbrella.**

**The brick he had touched quivered – it wriggled – in the middle, a small hole appeared – it grew wider and wider – a second later they were facing an archway large enough even for Hagrid, an archway onto a cobbled street which twisted and turned out of sight.**

**"Welcome," said Hagrid, "to Diagon Alley."**

**He grinned at Harry's amazement. They stepped through the archway. Harry looked quickly over his shoulder and saw the archway shrink instantly back into solid wall.**

**The sun shone brightly on a stack of cauldrons outside the nearest shop. _Cauldrons – All Sizes – Copper, Brass, Pewter, Silver – Self-Stirring – Collapsible_ said a sign hanging over them.**

**"Yeah, you'll be needin' one," said Hagrid, "but we gotta get yer money first."**

**Harry wished he had about eight more eyes. He turned his head in every direction as they walked up the street, trying to look at everything at once: the shops, the things outside them, the people doing their shopping. A plump woman outside an apothecary's was shaking her head as they passed, saying, "Dragon liver, sixteen Sickles an ounce, they're mad..."**

"Mum!" the Weasley children groaned.

"Well, they _are_ mad! I was _not_ going to buy dragon liver for that price! It's horrendous!" Mrs Weasley told them.

**A low, soft hooting came from a dark shop with a sign saying _Eeylops Owl Emporium – Tawny, Screech, Barn, Brown, and Snowy_. Several boys of about Harry's age had their noses pressed against a window with broomsticks in it. "Look," Harry heard one of them say, "the new Nimbus Two Thousand – fastest ever –" There were shops selling robes, shops selling telescopes and strange silver instruments Harry had never seen before, windows stacked with barrels of bat spleens and eels' eyes, tottering piles of spell books, quills and rolls of parchment, potion bottles, globes of the moon...**

**"Gringotts," said Hagrid.**

**They had reached a snowy-white building that towered over the other little shops. Standing beside its burnished bronze doors, wearing a uniform of scarlet and gold, was –**

**"Yeah, that's a goblin," said Hagrid quietly as they walked up the white stone steps toward him. The goblin was about a head shorter than Harry. He had a swarthy, clever face, a pointed beard and, Harry noticed, very long fingers and feet. He bowed as they walked inside. Now they were facing a second pair of doors, silver this time, with words engraved upon them:**

**_Enter, stranger, but take heed_**

**_Of what awaits the sin of greed,_**

**_For those who take, but do not earn,_**

**_Must pay most dearly in their turn,_**

**_So if you seek beneath our floors_**

**_A treasure that was never yours,_**

**_Thief, you have been warned, beware_**

**_Of finding more than treasure there._**

**"Like I said, yeh'd be mad ter try an' rob it," said Hagrid.**

**A pair of goblins bowed them through the silver doors and they were in a vast marble hall. About a hundred more goblins were sitting on high stools behind a long counter, scribbling in large ledgers, weighing coins in brass scales, examining precious stones through eyeglasses. There were too many doors to count leading off the hall, and yet more goblins were showing people in and out of these. Hagrid and Harry made for the counter.**

**"Morning," said Hagrid to a free goblin. "We've come ter take some money outta Mr Harry Potter's safe."**

**"You have his key, sir?"**

**"Got it here somewhere," said Hagrid and he started emptying his pockets onto the counter, scattering a handful of mouldy dog-biscuits over the goblin's book of numbers. The goblin wrinkled his nose. Harry watched the goblin on their right weighing a pile of rubies as big as glowing coals.**

**"Got it," said Hagrid at last, holding up a tiny golden key.**

**The goblin looked at it closely.**

**"That seems to be in order."**

**"An' I've also got a letter here from Professor Dumbledore," said Hagrid importantly, throwing out his chest. "It's about the You-Know-What in vault seven hundred and thirteen."**

**The goblin read the letter carefully.**

**"Very well," he said, handing it back to Hagrid, "I will have Someone take you down to both vaults. Griphook!"**

**Griphook was yet another goblin. Once Hagrid had crammed all the dog-biscuits back inside his pockets, he and Harry followed Griphook toward one of the doors leading off the hall.**

**"What's the You-Know-What in vault seven hundred and thirteen?" Harry asked.**

"Like he's going to tell you, Harry," Ginny smiled.

"I can't help being curious!" Harry protested.

"That's one of your flaws though, Harry," Hermione told him. "You very curious and want to know and investigate everything."

**"Can't tell yeh that," said Hagrid mysteriously. "Very secret. Hogwarts business. Dumbledore's trusted me. More'n my job's worth ter tell yeh that."**

**Griphook held the door open for them. Harry, who had expected more marble, was surprised. They were in a narrow stone passageway lit with flaming torches. It sloped steeply downward and there were little railway tracks on the floor. Griphook whistled and a small cart came hurtling up the tracks toward them. They climbed in – Hagrid with some difficulty – and were off.**

**At first they just hurtled through a maze of twisting passages. Harry tried to remember, left, right, right, left, middle fork, right, left, but it was impossible. The rattling cart seemed to know its own way, because Griphook wasn't steering.**

**Harry's eyes stung as the cold air rushed past them, but he kept them wide open. Once, he thought he saw a burst of fire at the end of a passage and twisted around to see if it was a dragon, but too late – they plunged even deeper, passing an underground lake where huge stalactites and stalagmites grew from the ceiling and floor.**

**"I never know," Harry called to Hagrid over the noise of the cart, "what's the difference between a stalagmite and a stalactite?"**

**"Stalagmite's got an 'm' in it," said Hagrid. "An' don' ask me questions just now, I think I'm gonna be sick."**

**He did look very green and when the cart stopped at last beside a small door in the passage wall, Hagrid got out and had to lean against the wall to stop his knees from trembling.**

**Griphook unlocked the door. A lot of green smoke came billowing out, and as it cleared, Harry gasped. Inside were mounds of gold coins. Columns of silver. Heaps of little bronze Knuts. **

**"All yours," smiled Hagrid.**

**All Harry's – it was incredible. The Dursleys couldn't have known about this or they'd have had it from him faster than blinking.**

"Well, that's a bit harsh," Luna voiced.

"The Dursleys _are_ harsh people," scowled Harry.

**How often had they complained how much Harry cost them to keep? And all the time there had been a small fortune belonging to him, buried deep under London.**

**Hagrid helped Harry pile some of it into a bag.**

**"The gold ones are Galleons," he explained. "Seventeen silver Sickles to a Galleon and twenty-nine Knuts to a Sickle, it's easy enough. Right, that should be enough fer a couple o' terms, we'll keep the rest safe for yeh." He turned to Griphook. "Vault seven hundred and thirteen now, please, and can we go more slowly?"**

**"One speed only," said Griphook.**

**They were going even deeper now and gathering speed. The air became colder and colder as they hurtled round tight corners. They went rattling over an underground ravine and Harry leant over the side to try and see what was down at the dark bottom but Hagrid groaned and pulled him back by the scruff of his neck.**

**Vault seven hundred and thirteen had no keyhole.**

**"Stand back," said Griphook importantly. He stroked the door gently with one of his long fingers and it simply melted away.**

**"If anyone but a Gringotts goblin tried that, they'd be sucked through the door and trapped in there," said Griphook.**

Ginny shuddered. "Sounds lovely."

**"How often do you check to see if anyone's inside?" Harry asked.**

**"About once every ten years," said Griphook, with a rather nasty grin.**

**Something really extraordinary had to be inside this top-security vault, Harry was sure, and he leaned forward eagerly, expecting to see fabulous jewels at the very least – but at first he thought it was empty. Then he noticed a grubby little package wrapped up in brown paper lying on the floor.**

"And thus begins our adventure," grinned Harry.

"What happened?" James asked eagerly, leaning forward.

"You'll see."

James groaned and threw himself back onto the couch. "I hate it when people say that."

**Hagrid picked it up and tucked it deep inside his coat. Harry longed to know what it was, but knew better than to ask.**

**"Come on, back in this infernal cart, and don't talk to me on the way back, it's best if I keep me mouth shut," said Hagrid.**

**One wild cart-ride later they stood blinking in the sunlight outside Gringotts. Harry didn't know where to run first now that he had a bag full of money. He didn't have to know how many Galleons there were to a pound to know that he was holding more money than he'd had in his whole life – more money than even Dudley had ever had.**

**"Might as well get yer uniform," said Hagrid, nodding toward _Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions_. "Listen, Harry, would yeh mind if I slipped off fer a pick-me-up in the Leaky Cauldron? I hate them Gringotts carts." He did still look a bit sick, so Harry entered Madam Malkin's shop alone, feeling nervous.**

**Madam Malkin was a squat, smiling witch dressed all in mauve.**

**"Hogwarts, dear?" she said, when Harry started to speak. "Got the lot here – another young man being fitted up just now, in fact."**

**In the back of the shop, a boy with a pale, pointed face**

"Only one boy fits that description," Ron jerked his head over to where Malfoy was.

Malfoy sneered. "Why, a Weasley recognises me! I'm honoured that you dirty pigs know us rich _non-blood traitor_ wizards!"

The Weasleys plus Harry and Hermione all flushed angrily.

Dumbledore cleared his throat. "Mr Malfoy. Don't you think that maybe you go too far? The Weasley family is lovely and just because they aren't the richest people in the world doesn't make them any different. And by you being quite wealthy does not put you above them, we are all equal. You will do well to remember that."

Now it was Malfoy's turn to flush. "Yes, Professor."

Dumbledore turned to Snape. "And Severus, you are Mr Malfoy's Head of House, shouldn't you be reprimanding him?"

Snape shrugged. "Another detention, Malfoy. I'll tell you when it will be occurring."

**was standing on a footstool while a second witch pinned up his long black robes. Madam Malkin stood Harry on a stool next to him, slipped a long robe over his head and began to pin it to the right length.**

**"Hullo," said the boy, "Hogwarts, too?"**

**"Yes," said Harry.**

**"My father's next door buying my books and mother's up the street looking at wands," said the boy. He had a bored, drawling voice. "Then I'm going to drag them off to look at racing brooms. I don't see why first-years can't have their own. I think I'll bully father into getting me one and I'll smuggle it in somehow."**

"Of course _he_ would say that," Ron whispered.

**Harry was strongly reminded of Dudley.**

**"Have _you_ got your own broom?" the boy went on.**

**"No," said Harry.**

**"Play Quidditch at all?"**

**"No," Harry said again, wondering what on earth Quidditch could be.**

**"_I_ do – Father says it's a crime if I'm not picked to play for my house, and I must say, I agree. Know what house you'll be in yet?"**

"No one knows until they get there! How could you possibly know?" Lily defended her son.

**"No," said Harry, feeling more stupid by the minute.**

**"Well, no one really knows until they get there, do they, but I know I'll be in Slytherin,**

"Of course," muttered James. "A right slimy git, just like your father. Your mother was a sod as well; didn't think anyone was above her. Perfect match."

**all our family have been**

"_Excuse me!_" Sirius roared. "_I_ was _not_ a _Slytherin_! Even if I was blown off that tapestry does not mean that you can call me a bloody _Slytherin_! You idiot of a cousin!"

"Second cousin," Malfoy corrected.

Sirius' eye twitched. "Don't push it," he growled.

**– imagine being in Hufflepuff, I think I'd leave, wouldn't you?"**

"How dare you!" Tonks screeched. "You pathetic excuse for a cousin!"

This time Malfoy couldn't contradict her.

**"Mmm," said Harry, wishing he could say something a bit more interesting.**

**"I say, look at that man!" said the boy suddenly, nodding toward the front window. Hagrid was standing there, grinning at Harry and pointing at two large ice-creams to show he couldn't come in.**

**"That's Hagrid," said Harry, pleased to know something the boy didn't. "He works at Hogwarts."**

**"Oh," said the boy, "I've heard of him. He's a sort of servant, isn't he?"**

"One day Malfoy…" Harry grinded his teeth.

**"He's the gamekeeper," said Harry. He was liking the boy less and less every second.**

**"Yes, exactly. I heard he's a sort of _savage_ – lives in a hut on the school grounds and every now and then he gets drunk, tries to do magic and ends up setting fire to his bed."**

**"I think he's brilliant," said Harry coldly.**

**"_Do_ you?" said the boy, with a slight sneer. "Why is he with you? Where are your parents?"**

**"They're dead," said Harry shortly. He didn't feel much like going into the matter with this boy.**

**"Oh, sorry," said the other, not sounding sorry at all. "But they were _our_ kind, weren't they?"**

**"They were a witch and wizard, if that's what you mean."**

**"I really don't think they should let the other sort in, do you? They're just not the same, they've never been brought up to know our ways. Some of them have never even heard of Hogwarts until they get the letter, imagine. I think they should keep it in the old wizarding families. What's your surname, anyway?"**

**But before Harry could answer, Madam Malkin said, "That's you done, my dear," and Harry, not sorry for an excuse to stop talking to the boy, hopped down from the footstool.**

**"Well, I'll see you at Hogwarts, I suppose," said the drawling boy.**

**Harry was rather quiet as he ate the ice-cream Hagrid had bought him (chocolate and raspberry with chopped nuts).**

**"What's up?" said Hagrid.**

**"Nothing," Harry lied. They stopped to buy parchment and quills. Harry cheered up a bit when he found a bottle of ink that changed colour as you wrote. When they had left the shop, he said, "Hagrid, what's Quidditch?"**

**"Blimey, Harry, I keep forgettin' how little yeh know – not knowin' about Quidditch!"**

**"Don't make me feel worse," said Harry. He told Hagrid about the pate boy in Madam Malkin's.**

**"– and he said people from Muggle families shouldn't even be allowed in –"**

**"Yer not _from_ a Muggle family. If he'd known who yeh _were_ – he's grown up knowin' yer name if his parents are wizardin' folk – you saw 'em in the Leaky Cauldron. Anyway, what does he know about it, some o' the best I ever saw were the only ones with magic in 'em in a long line o' Muggles – look at yer mum! Look what she had fer a sister!"**

**"So what _is_ Quidditch?"**

**"It's our sport. Wizard sport. It's like – like football in the Muggle world – everyone follows Quidditch – played up in the air on broomsticks and there's four balls – sorta hard ter explain the rules." **

**"And what are Slytherin and Hufflepuff?"**

**"School houses. There's four. Everyone says Hufflepuff are a lot o' duffers, but –"**

**"I bet I'm in Hufflepuff," said Harry gloomily.**

**"Better Hufflepuff than Slytherin," said Hagrid darkly. "There's not a single witch or wizard who went bad who wasn't in Slytherin. You-Know-Who was one."**

Sirius frowned. "I know some Slytherins who didn't go to Voldemort. Andromeda was in Slytherin, wasn't she Tonks? She stayed on our side. And Regulus wasn't _that_ bad before he went over to him. He was scared."

**"Vol – sorry – You-Know-Who was at Hogwarts?"**

**"Years an' years ago," said Hagrid.**

**They bought Harry's school books in a shop called Flourish and Blotts where the shelves were stacked to the ceiling with books as large as paving stones bound in leather; books the size of postage stamps in covers of silk; books full of peculiar symbols and a few books with nothing in them at all. Even Dudley, who never read anything, would have been wild to get his hands on some of these. Hagrid almost had to drag Harry away from _Curses and Counter-curses (Bewitch Your Friends and Befuddle Your Enemies with the Latest Revenges: Hair Loss, Jelly-Legs, Tongue- Tying and much, much more)_ by Professor Vindictus Viridian.**

**"I was trying to find out how to curse Dudley."**

**"I'm not sayin' that's not a good idea, but yer not ter use magic in the Muggle world except in very special circumstances," said Hagrid. "An' anyway, yeh couldn' work any of them curses yet, yeh'll need a lot more study before yeh get ter that level."**

**Hagrid wouldn't let Harry buy a solid gold cauldron, either ("It says pewter on yer list"), but they got a nice set of scales for weighing potion ingredients and a collapsible brass telescope. Then they visited the apothecary's, which was fascinating enough to make up for its horrible smell, a mixture of bad eggs and rotted cabbages. Barrels of slimy stuff stood on the floor, jars of herbs, dried roots and bright powders lined the walls, bundles of feathers, strings of fangs, and snarled claws hung from the ceiling. While Hagrid asked the man behind the counter for a supply of some basic potion ingredients for Harry, Harry himself examined silver unicorn horns at twenty-one Galleons each and minuscule, glittery-black beetle eyes (five Knuts a scoop).**

**Outside the apothecary's, Hagrid checked Harry's list again.**

**"Just yer wand left – oh yeah, an' I still haven't got yeh a birthday present."**

**Harry felt himself go red.**

**"You don't have to –"**

**"I know I don't have to. Tell yeh what, I'll get yer animal. Not a toad, toads went outta fashion years ago, yeh'd be laughed at – an' I don' like cats, they make me sneeze. I'll get yer an owl. All the kids want owls, they're dead useful, carry yer post an' everythin'."**

**Twenty minutes later, they left Eeylops Owl Emporium, which had been dark and full of rustling and flickering, jewel-bright eyes. Harry now carried a large cage that held a beautiful snowy owl, fast asleep with her head under her wing.**

"Hedwig," Harry smiled. "I wish she was here." There was a sound like a clicking beak and sure enough Hedwig swooped down from the stair rail where she had been perched and landed on Harry's shoulder.

"Hello," Harry ran a finger over her beak. "I don't have anything to give you. If you go to the kitchen you might find some left overs." Hedwig clicked her beak again and flew over to the kitchen.

**He couldn't stop stammering his thanks, sounding just like Professor Quirrell.**

**"Don' mention it," said Hagrid gruffly. "Don' expect you've had a lotta presents from them Dursleys. Just Ollivanders left now – only place fer wands, Ollivanders, and yeh gotta have the best wand."**

**A magic wand... this was what Harry had been really looking forward to.**

**The last shop was narrow and shabby. Peeling gold letters over the door read _Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 BC_. A single wand lay on a faded purple cushion in the dusty window.**

**A tinkling bell rang somewhere in the depths of the shop as they stepped inside. It was a tiny place, empty except for a single, spindly chair that Hagrid sat on to wait. Harry felt strangely as though he had entered a very strict library; he swallowed a lot of new questions that had just occurred to him and looked instead at the thousands of narrow boxes piled neatly right up to the ceiling. For some reason, the back of his neck prickled. The very dust and silence in here seemed to tingle with some secret magic.**

**"Good afternoon," said a soft voice. Harry jumped. Hagrid must have jumped, too, because there was a loud crunching noise and he got quickly off the spindly chair.**

**An old man was standing before them, his wide, pale eyes shining like moons through the gloom of the shop.**

**"Hello," said Harry awkwardly.**

**"Ah yes," said the man. "Yes, yes. I thought I'd be seeing you soon. Harry Potter." It wasn't a question. "You have your mother's eyes. It seems only yesterday she was in here herself, buying her first wand. Ten and a quarter inches long, swishy, made of willow. Nice wand for charm work."**

Lily drew her wand. "Yes it is nice. Hippogriff talon and fairy wings for the core. Though Ollivander did tell me that there was some unicorn hair in there as well."

"Fairy wings and hippogriff talon?" asked Harry.

"Oh, yes. Also good for Charms which suits me perfectly."

"But Ollivander only make wands with cores of phoenix feathers, dragon heartstrings and unicorn hair," Hermione said confused.

"He does _now_," Tonks said. "Those are the easiest cores to acquire. I got one of the last ones before he started to just use those three. But I bet when he dies the next wandmaker will make them with all different cores again."

**Mr Ollivander moved closer to Harry. Harry wished he would blink. Those silvery eyes were a bit creepy.**

**"Your father, on the other hand, favoured a mahogany wand. Eleven inches. Pliable. A little more power and excellent for transfiguration.**

"I love my wand. Demiguise hair and dragon heartstring."

**Well, I say your father favoured it – it's really the wand that chooses the wizard, of course."**

**Mr Ollivander had come so close that he and Harry were almost nose to nose. Harry could see himself reflected in those misty eyes.**

**"And that's where..."**

**Mr Ollivander touched the lightning scar on Harry's forehead with a long, white finger.**

**"I'm sorry to say I sold the wand that did it," he said softly. "Thirteen and a half inches. Yew. Powerful wand, very powerful, and in the wrong hands... Well, if I'd known what that wand was going out into the world to do..."**

**He shook his head and then, to Harry's relief, spotted Hagrid.**

**"Rubeus! Rubeus Hagrid! How nice to see you again... Oak, sixteen inches, rather bendy, wasn't it?"**

**"It was, sir, yes," said Hagrid.**

**"Good wand, that one. But I suppose they snapped it in half when you got expelled?" said Mr Ollivander, suddenly stern.**

**"Er – yes, they did, yes," said Hagrid, shuffling his feet. "I've still got the pieces, though," he added brightly.**

**"But you don't _use_ them?" said Mr Ollivander sharply.**

**"Oh, no, sir," said Hagrid quickly. Harry noticed he gripped his pink umbrella very tightly as he spoke.**

**"Hmmm," said Mr Ollivander, giving Hagrid a piercing look. "Well, now – Mr Potter. Let me see." He pulled a long tape measure with silver markings out of his pocket. "Which is your wand arm?"**

**"Er – well, I'm right-handed," said Harry.**

**"Hold out your arm. That's it." He measured Harry from shoulder to finger, then wrist to elbow, shoulder to floor, knee to armpit and round his head. As he measured, he said, "Every Ollivander wand has a core of a powerful magical substance, Mr Potter. We use unicorn hairs, phoenix tail feathers, and the heartstrings of dragons. No two Ollivander wands are the same, just as no two unicorns, dragons, or phoenixes are quite the same. And of course, you will never get such good results with another wizard's wand."**

**Harry suddenly realized that the tape measure, which was measuring between his nostrils, was doing this on its own. Mr Ollivander was flitting around the shelves, taking down boxes.**

**"That will do," he said, and the tape measure crumpled into a heap on the floor. "Right then, Mr Potter. Try this one. Beechwood and dragon heartstring. Nine inches. Nice and flexible. Just take it and give it a wave."**

**Harry took the wand and (feeling foolish) waved it around a bit, but Mr Ollivander snatched it out of his hand almost at once.**

**"Maple and phoenix feather. Seven inches. Quite whippy. Try –"**

**Harry tried – but he had hardly raised the wand when it, too, was snatched back by Mr. Ollivander.**

**"No, no – here, ebony and unicorn hair, eight and a half inches, springy. Go on, go on, try it out."**

**Harry tried. And tried. He had no idea what Mr Ollivander was waiting for. The pile of tried wands was mounting higher and higher on the spindly chair, but the more wands Mr Ollivander pulled from the shelves, the happier he seemed to become.**

**"Tricky customer, eh? Not to worry, we'll find the perfect match here somewhere – I wonder, now – yes, why not – unusual combination - holly and phoenix feather, eleven inches, nice and supple."**

"Ding, ding, ding! You have found the perfect match!" Ron grinned at Harry.

**Harry took the wand. He felt a sudden warmth in his fingers. He raised the wand above his head, brought it swishing down through the dusty air and a stream of red and gold sparks shot from the end like a firework, throwing dancing spots of light on to the walls. Hagrid whooped and clapped and Mr Ollivander cried, "Oh, bravo! Yes, indeed, oh, very good. Well, well, well... how curious... how very curious..."**

**He put Harry's wand back into its box and wrapped it in brown paper, still muttering, "Curious... curious…"**

**"Sorry," said Harry, "but _what's_ curious?"**

**Mr Ollivander fixed Harry with his pale stare.**

**"I remember every wand I've ever sold, Mr. Potter. Every single wand. It so happens that the phoenix whose tail feather is in your wand, gave another feather – just one other. It is very curious indeed that you should be destined for this wand when its brother – why, its brother gave you that scar."**

"It _did_?" James looked shocked.

Harry nodded. "I don't think Fawkes knew what he was doing when he gave out that feather."

"Fawkes as in… Dumbledore's _bird_?" Lily asked.

"Not just any bird, Lily. A phoenix. Lovely creatures," Dumbledore smiled.

"Especially when they save your life," Harry agreed.

**Harry swallowed.**

**"Yes, thirteen and a half inches. Yew. Curious indeed how these things happen. The wand chooses the wizard, remember... I think we must expect great things from you, Mr Potter... After all, He Who Must Not Be Named did great things – terrible, yes, but great."**

**Harry shivered. He wasn't sure he liked Mr Ollivander too much. He paid seven gold Galleons for his wand and Mr Ollivander bowed them from his shop.**

**The late-afternoon sun hung low in the sky as Harry and Hagrid made their way back down Diagon Alley, back through the wall, back through the Leaky Cauldron, now empty. Harry didn't speak at all as they walked down the road; he didn't even notice how much people were gawking at them on the Underground, laden as they were with all their funny-shaped packages, with the snowy owl asleep in its cage on Harry's lap. Up another escalator, out into Paddington station; Harry only realized where they were when Hagrid tapped him on the shoulder.**

**"Got time fer a bite to eat before yer train leaves," he said.**

**He bought Harry a hamburger and they sat down on plastic seats to eat them. Harry kept looking around. Everything looked so strange, somehow.**

**"You all right, Harry? Yer very quiet," said Hagrid.**

**Harry wasn't sure he could explain. He'd just had the best birthday of his life – and yet – he chewed his hamburger, trying to find the words.**

**"Everyone thinks I'm special," he said at last. "All those people in the Leaky Cauldron, Professor Quirrell, Mr Ollivander... but I don't know anything about magic at all. How can they expect great things? I'm famous and I can't even remember what I'm famous for. I don't know what happened when Vol– sorry – I mean, the night my parents died."**

**Hagrid leaned across the table. Behind the wild beard and eyebrows he wore a very kind smile.**

**"Don' you worry, Harry. You'll learn fast enough. Everyone starts at the beginning at Hogwarts, you'll be just fine. Just be yerself. I know it's hard. Yeh've been singled out, an' that's always hard. But yeh'll have a great time at Hogwarts – I did – still do, 'smatter of fact."**

**Hagrid helped Harry on to the train that would take him back to the Dursleys, then handed him an envelope.**

**"Yer ticket fer Hogwarts," he said. "First o' September – King's Cross – it's all on yer ticket. Any problems with the Dursleys, send me a letter with yer owl, she'll know where to find me... See yeh soon, Harry."**

**The train pulled out of the station. Harry wanted to watch Hagrid until he was out of sight; he rose in his seat and pressed his nose against the window, but he blinked and Hagrid had gone.**

"Finished," said Lily.

"I'll read next," Mrs Weasley held out her hand for the book.

* * *

Please review and tell me what you thought! Thanks everyone!


	7. Chapter 6 The Journey from Platform Nine

Hi guys! New chapter for you! I might upload another chapter tonight because I probably won't over the weekend so I'll give you an extra one to read!

And I've seen reviews were people are asking me not to discontinue this and I promise that this will be finished, and I know that's a promise I can't break because it is all finished and sitting on my computer waiting to be uploaded. But I don't know if I'm going to do the second one. I'll figure it out later, for now, just enjoy!

Thanks to these reviewers: Halcyous, Sunshine72 and !

As always, if you see any errors, please report them to me!

You know, I've always wondered how many people actually read this... oh well...

Fizzy

**Chapter 6 The Journey from Platform Nine and Three-Quarters**

**Harry's last month with the Dursleys wasn't fun. True, Dudley was now so scared of Harry he wouldn't stay in the same room,**

"That was pretty good," Harry admitted.

**while Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon didn't shut Harry in his cupboard, force him to do anything, or shout at him – in fact, they didn't speak to him at all.**

"Added bonus," Ron grinned.

**Half-terrified, half-furious, they acted as though any chair with Harry in it were empty. Although this was an improvement in many ways, it did become a bit depressing after a while.**

**Harry kept to his room, with his new owl for company. He had decided to call her Hedwig, a name he had found in _A History of Magic_. **

"So you did open your books, Potter," sneered Snape.

"Yes I did. I just don't remember every word I read, unlike Hermione," Harry replied.

Hermione smiled. "Reading comes naturally to me."

Ron rolled her eyes. "Obviously! Every day you read at least two books!"

**His school books were very interesting. He lay on his bed reading late into the night, Hedwig swooping in and out of the open window as she pleased. It was lucky that Aunt Petunia didn't come in to hoover anymore, because Hedwig kept bringing back dead mice. Every night before he went to sleep, Harry ticked off another day on the piece of paper he had pinned to the wall, counting down to September the first.**

**On the last day of August he thought he'd better speak to his aunt and uncle about getting to King's Cross station the next day, **

George nodded mock-seriously. "Yeah. You probably want to do that Harry. You know, I'm surprised they even drove you there."

"You'll find out my they _did_ drive me," said Harry.

**so he went down to the living-room where they were watching a quiz show on television. He cleared his throat to let them know he was there, and Dudley screamed and ran from the room.**

"I would have loved to see that!" Sirius beamed. "Do you reckon he'd run out of the room if I came."

Harry considered this for a moment. "Probably. Seeing as you're still known has a murderous, raving lunatic to the Muggles, I would say so."

James shook his head at Sirius. "Quite a reputation you've built up there, Padfoot."

**"Er – Uncle Vernon?"**

**Uncle Vernon grunted to show he was listening.**

**"Er – I need to be at King's Cross tomorrow to – to go to Hogwarts."**

**Uncle Vernon grunted again.**

**"Would it be all right if you gave me a lift?"**

**Grunt. Harry supposed that meant yes.**

**"Thank you."**

**He was about to go back upstairs when Uncle Vernon actually spoke.**

**"Funny way to get to a wizards' school, the train. Magic carpets all got punctures, have they?"**

Mr Weasley sighed. "We don't _use_ flying carpets anymore."

**Harry didn't say anything.**

**"Where is this school, anyway?"**

**"I don't know," said Harry, realising this for the first time. He pulled the ticket Hagrid had given him out of his pocket.**

**"I just take the train from platform nine and three-quarters at eleven o'clock," he read.**

**His aunt and uncle stared.**

**"Platform what?"**

**"Nine and three-quarters."**

**"Don't talk rubbish," said Uncle Vernon, "there is no platform nine and three-quarters."**

**"It's on my ticket."**

**"Barking," said Uncle Vernon, "howling mad, the lot of them. You'll see. You just wait. All right, we'll take you to King's Cross. We're going up to London tomorrow anyway, or I wouldn't bother."**

**"Why are you going to London?" Harry asked, trying to keep things friendly.**

**"Taking Dudley to the hospital," growled Uncle Vernon. "Got to have that ruddy tail removed before he goes to Smeltings."**

"Ah," George nodded. "So, because Dudders needed his lovely tail removed."

**Harry woke at five o'clock the next morning and was too excited and nervous to go back to sleep. He got up and pulled on his jeans because he didn't want to walk into the station in his wizard's robes – he'd change on the train. He checked his Hogwarts list yet again to make sure he had everything he needed, saw that Hedwig was shut safely in her cage and then paced the room, waiting for the Dursleys to get up. Two hours later, Harry's huge, heavy trunk had been loaded into the Dursleys' car, Aunt Petunia had talked Dudley into sitting next to Harry and they had set off.**

**They reached King's Cross at half past ten. Uncle Vernon dumped Harry's trunk onto a trolley and wheeled it into the station for him. Harry thought this was strangely kind until Uncle Vernon stopped dead, facing the platforms with a nasty grin on his face.**

**"Well, there you are, boy. Platform nine – platform ten. Your platform should be somewhere in the middle, but they don't seem to have built it yet, do they?"**

**He was quite right, of course. There was a big plastic number nine over one platform and a big plastic number ten over the one next to it, and in the middle, nothing at all.**

**"Have a good term," said Uncle Vernon with an even nastier smile. He left without another word. Harry turned and saw the Dursleys drive away. All three of them were laughing. **

"HOW DARE SHE?!" Lily screeched. "SHE KNEW WHERE THE PLATFORM WAS! ALL SHE HAD TO DO IS TELL YOU, BUT NO! SHE STAYS IN THE CAR WITH PRECIOUS DUDLEY AND THEN DRIVES OFF LEAVING YOU THERE!"

"Woah, mum," Harry said. "Calm down. It was ages ago. Besides, if they hadn't left me, I wouldn't have met my basically adopted family." He smiled at the Weasleys who all grinned back.

"I know, but still. She could've at least directed you."

**Harry's mouth went rather dry. What on earth was he going to do? He was starting to attract a lot of funny looks, because of Hedwig. He'd have to ask someone.**

**He stopped a passing guard, but didn't dare mention platform nine and three-quarters. The guard had never heard of Hogwarts and when Harry couldn't even tell him what part of the country it was in, he started to get annoyed, as though Harry was being stupid on purpose. Getting desperate, Harry asked for the train that left at eleven o'clock, but the guard said there wasn't one. In the end the guard strode away, muttering about time-wasters. Harry was now trying hard not to panic. According to the large clock over the arrivals board, he had ten minutes left to get on the train to Hogwarts and he had no idea how to do it; he was stranded in the middle of a station with a trunk he could hardly lift, a pocket full of wizard money and a large owl.**

**Hagrid must have forgotten to tell him something you had to do, like tapping the third brick on the left to get into Diagon Alley. He wondered if he should get out his wand and start tapping the ticket box between platforms nine and ten.**

"That wouldn't be a good idea," James said.

"No, it wouldn't," McGonagall agreed, "but I can't believe Hagrid forgot to tell you how to get onto the platform."

"He probably thought that I already knew. I mean, he expected me to know what Hogwarts was and everything," Harry defended him.

**At that moment a group of people passed just behind him and he caught a few words of what they were saying.**

**"– packed with Muggles, of course –"**

**Harry swung round. The speaker was a plump woman who was talking to four boys, all with flaming red hair. Each of them was pushing a trunk like Harry's in front of him – and they had an _owl_.**

**Heart hammering, Harry pushed his trolley after them. They stopped and so did he, just near enough to hear what they were saying.**

**"Now, what's the platform number?" said the boys' mother.**

"Wait, does that mean there are more platforms at King's Cross?" Harry asked.

"Of course, dear," Mrs Weasley said. "Take Platform Six and a Quarter for example: that takes you to St Mungo's."

"But I thought you got to St Mungo's through the shop window," said Harry, confused.

"Well, yes. But there are multiple ways of getting there. The shop window, King's Cross, Floo Network. Whatever's easiest for you, dear," Mrs Weasley explained.

**"Nine and three-quarters!" piped a small girl, also red-headed, who was holding her hand, "Mum, can't I go... "**

**"You're not old enough, Ginny, now be quiet. All right, Percy, **

Mrs Weasley stopped reading for a moment and looked away before shaking her head and continuing.

**you go first."**

**What looked like the oldest boy marched toward platforms nine and ten. Harry watched, careful not to blink in case he missed it – but just as the boy reached the dividing barrier between the two platforms, a large crowd of tourists came swarming in front of him and by the time the last rucksack had cleared away, the boy had vanished.**

**"Fred, you next," the plump woman said.**

**"I'm not Fred, I'm George," said the boy. "Honestly, woman, you call yourself our mother? Can't you _tell_ I'm George?"**

**"Sorry, George, dear."**

**"Only joking, I am Fred," said the boy, and off he went. His twin called after him to hurry up, and he must have done so, because a second later, he had gone – but how had he done it?**

**Now the third brother was walking briskly toward the barrier – he was almost there – and then, quite suddenly, he wasn't anywhere.**

**There was nothing else for it.**

**"Excuse me," Harry said to the plump woman.**

**"Hullo, dear," she said. "First time at Hogwarts? Ron's new, too."**

**She pointed at the last and youngest of her sons. He was tall, thin, and gangling, with freckles, big hands and feet and a long nose.**

"And there's _my_ description," laughed Ron.

**"Yes," said Harry. "The thing is – the thing is, I don't know how to –"**

**"How to get onto the platform?" she said kindly, and Harry nodded.**

**"Not to worry," she said. "All you have to do is walk straight at the barrier between platforms nine and ten. Don't stop and don't be scared you'll crash into it, that's very important. Best do it at a bit of a run if you're nervous. Go on, go now before Ron."**

**"Er – OK," said Harry.**

**He pushed his trolley around and stared at the barrier. It looked very solid.**

**He started to walk toward it. People jostled him on their way to platforms nine and ten. Harry walked more quickly. He was going to smash right into that barrier and then he'd be in trouble – leaning forward on his trolley, he broke into a heavy run – the barrier was coming nearer and nearer – he wouldn't be able to stop – the trolley was out of control – he was a foot away – he closed his eyes ready for the crash –**

**It didn't come... he kept on running... he opened his eyes. **

**A scarlet steam engine was waiting next to a platform packed with people. **

James sighed contentedly. "You never forget that first glance."

**A sign overhead said _Hogwarts Express, 11 o'clock_. Harry looked behind him and saw a wrought-iron archway where the ticket box had been, with the words _Platform Nine and Three-Quarters_ on it. He had done it.**

**Smoke from the engine drifted over the heads of the chattering crowd, while cats of every colour wound here and there between their legs. Owls hooted to one another in a disgruntled sort of way over the babble and the scraping of heavy trunks.**

**The first few carriages were already packed with students, some hanging out of the window to talk to their families, some fighting over seats. Harry pushed his trolley off down the platform in search of an empty seat. He passed a round-faced boy who was saying, "Gran, I've lost my toad again."**

Neville went red while Ron and Harry grinned at him. "Well that's not a surprise is it Neville?"

"Tell me, Longbottom, did you ever get that Remebrall back?" Malfoy jeered. Neville blushed even further and shrank back against the couch.

"Fight back, Neville!" Ron growled. "Fight back!"

"I try," mumbled Neville. Harry just shrugged at Ron and they both turned back to Mrs Weasley.

**"Oh, _Neville_," he heard the old woman sigh.**

**A boy with dreadlocks was surrounded by a small crowd.**

**"Give us a look, Lee, go on."**

**The boy lifted the lid of a box in his arms and the people around him shrieked and yelled as something inside poked out a long, hairy leg.**

Ron shuddered.

**Harry pressed on through the crowd until he found an empty compartment near the end of the train. He put Hedwig inside first and then started to shove and heave his trunk toward the train door. He tried to lift it up the steps but could hardly raise one end and twice he dropped it painfully on his foot.**

**"Want a hand?" It was one of the red-haired twins he'd followed through the ticket box.**

**"Yes, please," Harry panted.**

**"Oy, Fred! C'mere and help!"**

**With the twins' help, Harry's trunk was at last tucked away in a corner of the compartment.**

**"Thanks," said Harry, pushing his sweaty hair out of his eyes.**

**"What's that?" said one of the twins suddenly, pointing at Harry's lightning scar.**

**"Blimey," said the other twin. "Are you –?"**

**"He _is_," said the first twin. "Aren't you?" he added to Harry.**

**"What?" said Harry.**

**"_Harry Potter_, "chorused the twins.**

**"Oh, him," **

"_Oh, him?_ Really, Harry, couldn't you be a _little _more inventive?" Hermione said.

"I was eleven, Hermione, and was completely unaware of who I was," Harry reminded her.

**said Harry. "I mean, yes, I am."**

**The two boys gawped at him and Harry felt himself turning red. Then, to his relief, a voice came floating in through the train's open door.**

**"Fred? George? Are you there?"**

**"Coming, Mum."**

**With a last look at Harry, the twins hopped off the train.**

**Harry sat down next to the window where, half hidden, he could watch the red-haired family on the platform and hear what they were saying. **

"Eavesdropping from a young age," James said thoughtfully before grinning. "Good on you. I like it."

"_James!_" Lily reprimanded him.

"Sorry, sorry," he chuckled before winking discreetly at Harry.

**Their mother had just taken out her handkerchief.**

**"Ron, you've got something on your nose."**

**The youngest boy tried to jerk out of the way, but she grabbed him and began rubbing the end of his nose.**

**"_Mum_ – geroff." He wriggled free.**

**"Aaah, has ickle Ronnie got somefink on his nosie?" said one of the twins.**

**"Shut up," said Ron.**

**"Where's Percy?" said their mother.**

**"He's coming now."**

**The oldest boy came striding into sight. He had already changed into his billowing black Hogwarts robes and Harry noticed a shiny silver badge on his chest with the letter _P_ on it.**

The twins rolled their eyes. "Of course he had that front and centre."

**"Can't stay long, Mother,"**

"_Mother._" Ginny spat. "How proper of him. Yes, Mother. Of course, Mother. I hate you, Mother. Stay away from Harry Potter, Mother."

Mrs Weasley's eyes filled with tears. "S-stop it," she choked out. "All of you. It's not his fault. He just –"

"Is a pompous Ministry-loving git with no feeling for his family or friends at all," Fred interrupted.

"You know Fred, I doubt he had any friends anyway. It's not like he would care for them."

"_I SAID STOP IT!_" Mrs Weasley roared.

Fred, George and Ginny instantly closed their mouths and backed down.

**he said. "I'm up front, the Prefects have got two compartments to themselves –"**

**"Oh, are you a _Prefect_, Percy?" said one of the twins, with an air of great surprise. "You should have said something, we had no idea."**

**"Hang on, I think I remember him saying something about it," said the other twin. "Once –"**

**"Or twice –"**

**"A minute –"**

**"All summer –"**

**"Oh, shut up," said Percy the Prefect.**

**"How come Percy gets new robes, anyway?" said one of the twins.**

**"Because he's a _Prefect_," said their mother fondly. "All right, dear, well, have a good term – send me an owl when you get there."**

**She kissed Percy on the cheek and he left. Then she turned to the twins.**

**"Now, you two – this year, you behave yourselves. **

"Don't worry about _us_, Mum," said Fred cheerfully.

"It's _Ron_ you'll have to worry about now!" George finished with a grin. Mrs Weasley just sighed.

**If I get one more owl telling me you've – you've blown up a toilet or –"**

**"Blown up a toilet? We've never blown up a toilet."**

**"Great idea though, thanks, Mum."**

Harry suddenly remembered the present the twins had tried to send him in his first year. "Thanks, for the toilet seat, by the way. I never got it, but still," he told the twins.

They laughed. "You're welcome!"

Mrs Weasley narrowed he eyes. "_What_ toilet seat?"

The twins gave a Harry a look that said 'thanks a lot'. "Nothing, Mum," they said in unison. "Harry was just joking."

**"It's _not funny_. And look after Ron."**

**"Don't worry, ickle Ronniekins is safe with us."**

**"Shut up," said Ron again. He was almost as tall as the twins already and his nose was still pink where his mother had rubbed it.**

**"Hey, Mom, guess what? Guess who we just met on the train?"**

**Harry leaned back quickly so they couldn't see him looking.**

**"You know that black-haired boy who was near us in the station? Know who he is?"**

**"Who?"**

**"_Harry Potter!_"**

**Harry heard the little girl's voice.**

**"Oh, Mum, can I go on the train and see him, Mum, oh please..."**

**"You've already seen him, Ginny, and the poor boy isn't something you goggle at in a zoo. Is he really, Fred? How do you know?"**

**"Asked him. Saw his scar. It's really there – like lightning."**

**"Poor _dear_ – no wonder he was alone. I wondered. He was ever so polite when he asked how to get onto the platform."**

**"Never mind that, do you think he remembers what You-Know-Who looks like?"**

"He's very white with a flat nose, bald, scarlet eyes. Like a snake. Pure Slytherin that man," Harry told Fred.

Fred shivered. "I didn't really need to know."

**Their mother suddenly became very stern.**

**"I forbid you to ask him, Fred. No, don't you dare. As though he needs reminding of that on his first day at school."**

**"All right, keep your hair on."**

**A whistle sounded.**

**"Hurry up!" their mother said, and the three boys clambered onto the train. They leaned out of the window for her to kiss them goodbye and their younger sister began to cry.**

**"Don't, Ginny, we'll send you loads of owls."**

**"We'll send you a Hogwarts toilet seat."**

**"_George!_"**

**"Only joking, Mum."**

**The train began to move. Harry saw the boys' mother waving and their sister, half laughing, half crying, running to keep up with the train until it gathered too much speed; then she fell back and waved.**

**Harry watched the girl and her mother disappear as the train rounded the corner. Houses flashed past the window. Harry felt a great leap of excitement. He didn't know what he was going to – but it had to be better than what he was leaving behind.**

**The door of the compartment slid open and the youngest red-headed boy came in.**

**"Anyone sitting there?" he asked, pointing at the seat opposite Harry. "Everywhere else is full."**

**Harry shook his head and the boy sat down. He glanced at Harry and then looked quickly out of the window, pretending he hadn't looked. Harry saw he still had a black mark on his nose.**

**"Hey, Ron."**

**The twins were back.**

**"Listen, we're going down the middle of the train – Lee Jordan's got a giant tarantula down there."**

"How insensitive of you, Fred. You turn my teddy bear into a spider and then you don't even care if you mention one in front of me," Ron glared at his brother.

Fred shrugged casually. "You know, Ron, I think you've been hanging around Hermione too long. I have never heard you utter the word 'insensitive' in my life."

"Hey!" Hermione and Ron both glowered at Fred before turning to each other.

Harry sighed. "Nice one Fred. Now you've set them on each other again and I'm stuck in the middle."

"You're not always the only one in the middle you know," Hermione told him. "Last year when you two were having your brotherly fight I was forced to be between you."

"Yeah, I suppose," Harry agreed. "And just when we were all friends again. Ron went and turned on you again for going to the Yule Ball with Krum."

"What is it today? 'Pick on Ron Day'?" muttered Ron.

**"Right," mumbled Ron.**

**"Harry," said the other twin, "did we introduce ourselves? Fred and George Weasley. And this is Ron, our brother. See you later, then.**

**"Bye," said Harry and Ron. The twins slid the compartment door shut behind them.**

**"Are you really Harry Potter?" Ron blurted out.**

**Harry nodded.**

**"Oh – well, I thought it might be one of Fred and George's jokes," said Ron. "And have you really got – you know..."**

**He pointed at Harry's forehead.**

**Harry pulled back his fringe to show the lightning scar. Ron stared.**

**"So that's where You-Know-Who –?"**

**"Yes," said Harry, "but I can't remember it."**

**"Nothing?" said Ron eagerly.**

"Seriously!" Fred moaned. "_I'm_ not allowed to ask Harry but _Ron _can!"

**"Well – I remember a lot of green light, but nothing else."**

**"Wow," said Ron. He sat and stared at Harry for a few moments, then, as though he had suddenly realised what he was doing, he looked quickly out of the window again.**

**"Are all your family wizards?" asked Harry, who found Ron just as interesting as Ron found him.**

**"Er – yes, I think so," said Ron. "I think Mum's got a second cousin who's an accountant, but we never talk about him."**

**"So you must know loads of magic already."**

**The Weasleys were clearly one of those old wizarding families the pale boy in Diagon Alley had talked about.**

Ron snorted. "We might be an old wizarding family but the Malfoy's wouldn't talk about us."

"Well, we kind of _are_ one of those families Ron," Mr Weasley said. "My mother was a Black and nearly _everyone's_ related to them. Potters, Prewetts, Longbottoms, Crouchs, Yaxleys."

"And me," said Sirius gloomily. "I get a direct line. Two Blacks as my parents. Yay."

**"I heard you went to live with Muggles," said Ron. "What are they like?"**

**"Horrible – well, not all of them. My aunt and uncle and cousin are, though. Wish I'd had three wizard brothers."**

**"Five," said Ron. For some reason, he was looking gloomy. "I'm the sixth in our family to go to Hogwarts. You could say I've got a lot to live up to. Bill and Charlie have already left – Bill was Head Boy and Charlie was captain of Quidditch. Now Percy's a Prefect. Fred and George mess around a lot, but they still get really good marks and everyone thinks they're really funny. Everyone expects me to do as well as the others, but if I do, it's no big deal, because they did it first. You never get anything new, either, with five brothers. I've got Bill's old robes, Charlie's old wand, and Percy's old rat."**

**Ron reached inside his jacket and pulled out a fat grey rat, which was asleep.**

"If only we'd known then…" Harry sighed.

"It would all be over," Sirius finished with a sad smile at his godson.

"Just you wait, Sirius. We'll make you a free man yet," Harry told him.

**"His name's Scabbers and he's useless, he hardly ever wakes up. Percy got an owl from my dad for being made a Prefect, but they couldn't aff– I mean, I got Scabbers instead."**

**Ron's ears went pink. He seemed to think he'd said too much, because he went back to staring out of the window.**

**Harry didn't think there was anything wrong with not being able to afford an owl. After all, he'd never had any money in his life until a month ago, and he told Ron so, all about having to wear Dudley's old clothes and never getting proper birthday presents. This seemed to cheer Ron up.**

**"... and until Hagrid told me, I didn't know anything about being a wizard or about my parents or Voldemort –"**

**Ron gasped.**

**"What?" said Harry.**

**"_You said You-Know-Who's name!_" said Ron, sounding both shocked and impressed. "I'd have thought you, of all people –"**

**"I'm not trying to be _brave_ or anything, saying the name," said Harry. "I just never knew you shouldn't. See what I mean? I've got loads to learn... I bet," he added, voicing for the first time something that had been worrying him a lot lately, "I bet I'm the worst in the class."**

**"You won't be. There's loads of people who come from Muggle families and they learn quick enough."**

**While they had been talking, the train had carried them out of London. Now they were speeding past fields full of cows and sheep. They were quiet for a time, watching the fields and lanes flick past.**

**Around half past twelve there was a great clattering outside in the corridor and a smiling, dimpled woman slid back their door and said, "Anything off the cart, dears?"**

**Harry, who hadn't had any breakfast, leapt to his feet, but Ron's ears went pink again and he muttered that he'd brought sandwiches. Harry went out into the corridor.**

**He had never had any money for sweets with the Dursleys and now that he had pockets rattling with gold and silver he was ready to buy as many Mars Bars as he could carry – **

"What's a Mars Bars?" James asked.

"It's a Muggle chocolate. Really good."

**but the woman didn't have Mars Bars. What she did have were Bettie Bott's Every-Flavour Beans, Drooble's Best Blowing Gum, Chocolate Frogs, Pumpkin Pasties, Cauldron Cakes, Liquorice Wands and a number of other strange things Harry had never seen in his life. Not wanting to miss anything, he got some of everything and paid the woman eleven silver Sickles and seven bronze Knuts.**

**Ron stared as Harry brought it all back in to the compartment and tipped it onto an empty seat.**

**"Hungry, are you?"**

**"Starving," said Harry, taking a large bite out of a pumpkin pasty.**

**Ron had taken out a lumpy package and unwrapped it. There were four sandwiches inside. He pulled one of them apart and said, "She always forgets I don't like corned beef."**

"Oh, sorry, dear," said a flustered Mrs Weasley. "There's so many of you that I get a little befuddled at times."

**"Swap you for one of these," said Harry, holding up a pasty. "Go on –"**

**"You don't want this, it's all dry," said Ron. "She hasn't got much time," he added quickly, "you know, with five of us."**

**"Go on, have a pasty," said Harry, who had never had anything to share before or, indeed, anyone to share it with. It was a nice feeling, sitting there with Ron, eating their way through all Harry's pasties and cakes (the sandwiches lay forgotten).**

**"What are these?" Harry asked Ron, holding up a pack of Chocolate Frogs. "They're not _really_ frogs, are they?" He was starting to feel that nothing would surprise him.**

**"No," said Ron. "But see what the card is. I'm missing Agrippa."**

**"What?"**

**"Oh, of course, you wouldn't know – Chocolate Frogs have cards, inside them, you know, to collect – Famous Witches and Wizards. I've got about five hundred, but I haven't got Agrippa or Ptolemy."**

James and Sirius grinned at each other. "We both have the whole set."

"Well, all the cards in _our_ day."

**Harry unwrapped his Chocolate Frog and picked up the card. It showed a man's face. He wore half-moon glasses, had a long, crooked nose, and flowing silver hair, beard, and moustache. Underneath the picture was the name _Albus Dumbledore_.**

**"So _this_ is Dumbledore!" said Harry.**

**"Don't tell me you'd never heard of Dumbledore!" said Ron. "Can I have a frog? I might get Agrippa – thanks –"**

**Harry turned over his card and read:**

**_Albus Dumbledore, currently Headmaster of Hogwarts. Considered by many the greatest wizard of modern times, Professor Dumbledore is particularly famous for his defeat of the dark wizard Grindelwald in 1945, for the discovery of the twelve uses of dragon's blood and his work on alchemy with his partner, Nicolas Flamel. Professor Dumbledore enjoys chamber music and tenpin bowling._**

**Harry turned the card back over and saw, to his astonishment, that Dumbledore's face had disappeared.**

**"He's gone!"**

**"Well, you can't expect him to hang around all day," said Ron. "He'll be back. No, I've got Morgana again and I've got about six of her... do you want it? You can start collecting."**

**Ron's eyes strayed to the pile of Chocolate Frogs waiting to be unwrapped.**

**"Help yourself," said Harry. "But in, you know, the Muggle world, people just stay put in photos."**

**"Do they? What, they don't move at all?" Ron sounded amazed. "_Weird!_"**

**Harry stared as Dumbledore sidled back into the picture on his card and gave him a small smile. Ron was more interested in eating the frogs than looking at the Famous Witches and Wizards cards, but Harry couldn't keep his eyes off them. Soon he had not only Dumbledore and Morgana, but Hengist of Woodcroft, Alberic Grunnion, Circe, Paracelsus and Merlin. He finally tore his eyes away from the druidess Cliodna, who was scratching her nose, to open a bag of Bertie Bott's Every-Flavour Beans.**

**"You want to be careful with those," Ron warned Harry. "When they say every flavour, they _mean_ every flavour – you know, you get all the ordinary ones like chocolate and peppermint and marmalade, but then you can get spinach and liver and tripe. George reckons he had a bogey-flavoured one once."**

"I _did_!" George exclaimed.

**Ron picked up a green bean, looked at it carefully, and bit into a corner.**

**"Bleaaargh – see? Sprouts."**

**They had a good time eating the Every-Flavour Beans. Harry got toast, coconut, baked bean, strawberry, curry, grass, coffee, sardine, and was even brave enough to nibble the end off a funny grey one Ron wouldn't touch, which turned out to be pepper.**

**The countryside now flying past the window was becoming wilder. The neat fields had gone. Now there were woods, twisting rivers and dark green hills.**

**There was a knock on the door of their compartment and the round-faced boy Harry had passed on platform nine and three-quarters came in. He looked tearful.**

**"Sorry," he said, "but have you seen a toad at all?"**

"If only I knew I was talking to Harry Potter," sighed Neville.

**When they shook their heads, he wailed, "I've lost him! He keeps getting away from me!"**

**"He'll turn up," said Harry.**

**"Yes," said the boy miserably. "Well, if you see him..."**

**He left.**

**"Don't know why he's so bothered," said Ron. "If I'd brought a toad I'd lose it as quick as I could. **

"That's not very nice, Ronald," Hermione scolded.

"I'm just saying I wouldn't like a toad!"

**Mind you, I brought Scabbers, so I can't talk."**

**The rat was still snoozing on Ron's lap.**

**"He might have died and you wouldn't know the difference," said Ron in disgust. "I tried to turn him yellow yesterday to make him more interesting, but the spell didn't work. I'll show you, look..."**

**He rummaged around in his trunk and pulled out a very battered-looking wand. It was chipped in places and something white was glinting at the end.**

**"Unicorn hair's nearly poking out. Anyway –"**

**He had just raised his wand when the compartment door slid open again. The toadless boy was back, but this time he had a girl with him. She was already wearing her new Hogwarts robes.**

**"Has anyone seen a toad? Neville's lost one," she said. She had a bossy sort of voice, lots of bushy brown hair and rather large front teeth.**

"My voice is _not_ bossy! And my teeth are fine!"

Ron snickered. "Yeah, now, after you had them shrunk."

"That was _his_ fault!" Hermione pointed at Malfoy.

"Well, maybe if you weren't standing next to Potter, you wouldn't have been hit!" Malfoy argued.

"Everybody, shut up!" Harry yelled. They all went quiet. "Thank you."

**"We've already told him we haven't seen it," said Ron, but the girl wasn't listening, she was looking at the wand in his hand.**

**"Oh, are you doing magic? Let's see it, then."**

**She sat down. Ron looked taken aback.**

**"Er – all right."**

**He cleared his throat.**

**"Sunshine, daisies, butter mellow, **

**Turn this stupid, fat rat yellow."**

**He waved his wand, but nothing happened. Scabbers stayed grey and fast asleep.**

The twins roared with laughter. "You _actually _used it!" George laughed.

**"Are you sure that's a real spell?" said the girl. "Well, it's not very good, is it? I've tried a few simple spells just for practice and it's all worked for me. Nobody in my family's magic at all, it was ever such a surprise when I got my letter, but I was ever so pleased, of course, I mean, it's the very best school of witchcraft there is, I've heard – I've learned all our set books by heart, of course, **

"Of course you did Hermione," Ginny smiled at her.

**I just hope it will be enough – I'm Hermione Granger, by the way, who are you?"**

**She said all this very fast.**

**Harry looked at Ron, and was relieved to see by his stunned face that he hadn't learned all the set books by heart either.**

**"I'm Ron Weasley," Ron muttered.**

**"Harry Potter," said Harry.**

**"Are you really?" said Hermione. "I know all about you, of course – I got a few extra books for background reading, and you're in _Modern Magical History_ and _The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts_ and _Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century_.**

**"Am I?" said Harry, feeling dazed.**

**"Goodness, didn't you know, I'd have found out everything I could if it was me," said Hermione. "Do either of you know what house you'll be in? I've been asking around and I hope I'm in Gryffindor, it sounds by far the best, I hear Dumbledore himself was one,**

Dumbledore nodded. "I was indeed, Miss Granger."

**but I suppose Ravenclaw wouldn't be too bad... Anyway, we'd better go and look for Neville's toad. You two had better change, you know, I expect we'll be there soon."**

**And she left, taking the toadless boy with her.**

**"Whatever house I'm in, I hope she's not in it," said Ron. **

"Thanks, Ron," Hermione scowled at him.

**He threw his wand back into his trunk. "Stupid spell – George gave it to me, bet he knew it was a dud."**

"Sure did, ickle Ronniekins!" George laughed.

**"What house are your brothers in?" asked Harry.**

**"Gryffindor," said Ron. Gloom seemed to be settling on him again. "Mum and Dad were in it, too. I don't know what they'll say if I'm not. I don't suppose Ravenclaw _would_ be too bad, but imagine if they put me in Slytherin."**

**"That's the house Vol– I mean, You-Know-Who was in?"**

**"Yeah," said Ron. He flopped back into his seat, looking depressed.**

**"You know, I think the ends of Scabbers's whiskers are a bit lighter," said Harry, trying to take Ron's mind off houses. "So what do your oldest brothers do now that they've left, anyway?"**

**Harry was wondering what a wizard did once he'd finished school.**

**"Charlie's in Romania studying dragons and Bill's in Africa doing something for Gringotts," said Ron. "Did you hear about Gringotts? It's been all over the _Daily Prophet_, but I don't suppose you get that with the Muggles – someone tried to rob a high security vault."**

**Harry stared.**

**"Really? What happened to them?"**

**"Nothing, that's why it's such big news. They haven't been caught. My dad says it must've been a powerful Dark wizard to get round Gringotts, but they don't think they took anything, that's what's odd. 'Course, everyone gets scared when something like this happens in case You-Know-Who's behind it."**

**Harry turned this news over in his mind. He was starting to get a prickle of fear every time You- Know-Who was mentioned. He supposed this was all part of entering the magical world, but it had been a lot more comfortable saying "Voldemort" without worrying.**

**"What's your Quidditch team?" Ron asked.**

**"Er – I don't know any," Harry confessed.**

**"What!" Ron looked dumbfounded. "Oh, you wait, it's the best game in the world –" And he was off, explaining all about the four balls and the positions of the seven players, describing famous games he'd been to with his brothers and the broomstick he'd like to get if he had the money. He was just taking Harry through the finer points of the game when the compartment door slid open yet again, but it wasn't Neville the toadless boy, or Hermione Granger this time.**

**Three boys entered and Harry recognised the middle one at once: it was the pale boy from Madam Malkin's robe shop. He was looking at Harry with a lot more interest than he'd shown back in Diagon Alley.**

**"Is it true?" he said. "They're saying all down the train that Harry Potter's in this compartment. So it's you, is it?"**

**"Yes," said Harry. He was looking at the other boys. Both of them were thickset and looked extremely mean. Standing on either side of the pale boy, they looked like bodyguards.**

**"Oh, this is Crabbe and this is Goyle," said the pale boy carelessly, noticing where Harry was looking. "And my name's Malfoy, Draco Malfoy."**

"James Bond much," laughed Hermione while Harry joined in.

Malfoy's forehead crinkled with concentration. "Who is James Bond?"

"It's hard to explain," Hermione said. "But he says, "The names Bond, James Bond" a lot."

**Ron gave a slight cough, which might have been hiding a snigger. Draco Malfoy looked at him.**

**"Think my name's funny, do you? No need to ask who you are. My father told me all the Weasleys have red hair, freckles and more children than they can afford."**

Mr and Mrs Weasley went red.

**He turned back to Harry. "You'll soon find out some wizarding families are much better than others, Potter. You don't want to go making friends with the wrong sort. I can help you there."**

**He held out his hand to shake Harry's, but Harry didn't take it.**

**"I think I can tell who the wrong sort are for myself, thanks," he said coolly.**

**Draco Malfoy didn't go red, but a pink tinge appeared in his pale cheeks.**

**"I'd be careful if I were you, Potter," he said slowly. "Unless you're a bit politer you'll go the same way as your parents. **

Sirius growled. "Unprovoked!"

"It always is, Sirius. It always is," said Harry.

**They didn't know what was good for them, either. You hang around with riff-raff like the Weasleys and that Hagrid and it'll rub off on you."**

"And I'm glad to have such brave and caring people next to me instead of cold-hearted people like _you_ Malfoy," Harry shot back.

**Both Harry and Ron stood up. Ron's face was as red as his hair.**

**"Say that again," he said.**

**"Oh, you're going to fight us, are you?" Malfoy sneered.**

**"Unless you get out now," said Harry, more bravely than he felt, because Crabbe and Goyle were a lot bigger than him or Ron.**

**"But we don't feel like leaving, do we, boys? We've eaten all our food and you still seem to have some."**

**Goyle reached toward the Chocolate Frogs next to Ron – Ron leapt forward, but before he'd so much as touched Goyle, Goyle let out a horrible yell.**

**Scabbers the rat was hanging off his finger, sharp little teeth sunk deep into Goyle's knuckle – **

Snape glared at Malfoy. "You told me they had bit Goyle for no reason!"

"So _that's_ why the Gryffindor points looked emptier that first night," Fred said.

"Great, causing trouble on my first night," sighed Harry.

**Crabbe and Malfoy backed away as Goyle swung Scabbers round and round, howling, and when Scabbets finally flew off and hit the window, all three of them disappeared at once. Perhaps they thought there were more rats lurking among the sweets, or perhaps they'd heard footsteps, because a second later, Hermione Granger had come in.**

**"What _has_ been going on?" she said, looking at the sweets all over the floor and Ron picking up Scabbers by his tail.**

**"I think he's been knocked out," Ron said to Harry. He looked closer at Scabbers. "No – I don't believe it – he's gone back to sleep."**

**And so he had.**

**"You've met Malfoy before?"**

**Harry explained about their meeting in Diagon Alley.**

**"I've heard of his family," said Ron darkly. "They were some of the first to come back to our side after You-Know-Who disappeared. Said they'd been bewitched. My dad doesn't believe it. He says Malfoy's father didn't need an excuse to go over to the Dark Side." He turned to Hermione. "Can we help you with something?"**

**"You'd better hurry up and put your robes on, I've just been up to the front to ask the driver and he says we're nearly there. You haven't been fighting, have you? You'll be in trouble before we even get there!"**

**"Scabbers has been fighting, not us," said Ron, scowling at her. "Would you mind leaving while we change?"**

**"All right – I only came in here because people outside are behaving very childishly, racing up and down the corridors," said Hermione in a sniffy voice. **

"_I don't have a sniffy voice!_" said Hermione shrilly.

**"And you've got dirt on your nose, by the way, did you know?"**

**Ron glared at her as she left. Harry peered out of the window. It was getting dark. He could see mountains and forests under a deep-purple sky. The train did seem to be slowing down.**

**He and Ron took off their jackets and pulled on their long black robes. Ron's were a bit short for him, you could see his sneakers underneath them.**

**A voice echoed through the train: "We will be reaching Hogwarts in five minutes' time. Please leave your luggage on the train, it will be taken to the school separately."**

**Harry's stomach lurched with nerves and Ron, he saw, looked pale under his freckles. They crammed their pockets with the last of the sweets and joined the crowd thronging the corridor.**

**The train slowed right down and finally stopped. People pushed their way toward the door and out on to a tiny, dark platform. Harry shivered in the cold night air. Then a lamp came bobbing over the heads of the students and Harry heard a familiar voice: "Firs'-years! Firs'-years over here! All right there, Harry?"**

**Hagrid's big hairy face beamed over the sea of heads.**

**"C'mon, follow me – any more firs'-years? Mind yer step, now! Firs'-years follow me!"**

**Slipping and stumbling, they followed Hagrid down what seemed to be a steep, narrow path. It was so dark on either side of them that Harry thought there must be thick trees there. Nobody spoke much. Neville, the boy who kept losing his toad, sniffed once or twice.**

**"Ye' all get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec," Hagrid called over his shoulder, "jus' round this bend here."**

**There was a loud "Oooooh!"**

**The narrow path had opened suddenly onto the edge of a great black lake. Perched atop a high mountain on the other side, its windows sparkling in the starry sky, was a vast castle with many turrets and towers.**

Lily sighed contentedly. "I love Hogwarts. It's so amazing with its passageways and secrets. I wish I could've studied it more."

"Well, no one knows the castle better than we do," James said indicating himself, Sirius and Remus.

"I reckon you'd have to battle for that title with Fred and George," Harry grinned.

"Yeah, but the thing is, Harry, they used _our_ map to find everything. We however, went around exploring everything and putting it _on_ the map," Sirius told him.

**"No more'n four to a boat!" Hagrid called, pointing to a fleet of little boats sitting in the water by the shore. Harry and Ron were followed into their boat by Neville and Hermione. "Everyone in?" shouted Hagrid, who had a boat to himself. "Right then – FORWARD!"**

**And the fleet of little boats moved off all at once, gliding across the lake, which was as smooth as glass. Everyone was silent, staring up at the great castle overhead. It towered over them as they sailed nearer and nearer to the cliff on which it stood.**

**"Heads down!" yelled Hagrid as the first boats reached the cliff; they all bent their heads and the little boats carried them through a curtain of ivy that hid a wide opening in the cliff face. They were carried along a dark tunnel, which seemed to be taking them right underneath the castle, until they reached a kind of underground harbour, where they clambered out onto rocks and pebbles.**

**"Oy, you there! Is this your toad?" said Hagrid, who was checking the boats as people climbed out of them.**

**"Trevor!" cried Neville blissfully, holding out his hands. Then they clambered up a passageway in the rock after Hagrid's lamp, coming out at last on to smooth, damp grass right in the shadow of the castle.**

** They walked up a flight of stone steps and crowded around the huge, oak front door.**

**"Everyone here? You there, still got yer toad?"**

**Hagrid raised a gigantic fist and knocked three times on the castle door.**

"Ta da," Mrs Weasley said. "Who wants to read next?"

"I will!" Tonks volunteered.

* * *

Please review and let me know what you thought! Thanks!


	8. Chapter 7 The Sorting Hat

Like I said, I was going to upload another chapter today, so enjoy!

Please report any errors!

Fizzy

**Chapter 7 The Sorting Hat**

**The door swung open at once. A tall, black-haired witch in emerald-green robes stood there. She had a very stern face and Harry's first thought was that this was not someone to cross.**

"Quite right Potter," McGonagall nodded her head. "Though your father seems to lack that thought."

James laughed. "Sorry, Minnie but you're not scary at all!"

**"The firs'-years, Professor McGonagall," said Hagrid.**

**"Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here."**

**She pulled the door wide. The Entrance Hall was so big you could have fitted the whole of the Dursleys' house in it. The stone walls were lit with flaming torches like the ones at Gringotts, the ceiling was too high to make out, and a magnificent marble staircase facing them led to the upper floors.**

"Hogwarts _is_ an amazing place," stated Hermione. Murmurs of agreement sprung up around the room.

**They followed Professor McGonagall across the flagged stone floor. Harry could hear the drone of hundreds of voices from a doorway to the right – the rest of the school must already be here – but Professor McGonagall showed the first-years into a small empty chamber off the hall. They crowded in, standing rather closer together than they would usually have done, peering about nervously.**

**"Welcome to Hogwarts," said Professor McGonagall. "The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. **

"Well, Hogwarts is my home, so that basically does make Gryffindor my family," said Harry.

**You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory and spend free time in your house common room.**

**"The four houses are called Gryffindor, **

Lots of cheers went up at that.

**Hufflepuff, **

"Yes! Go Hufflepuff!" Tonks hollered.

**Ravenclaw **

Moody and Luna just sat there.

**and Slytherin. **

As many boos for Slytherin as there were cheers for Gryffindor. Go figure.

**Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. **

"Apart from Slytherin," Ron said.

"Actually Mr Weasley, I'll think you'll find that incorrect," McGonagall corrected. "Yes, You-Know-Who was in Slytherin, but that doesn't make it a lesser house. I mean Andromeda Black was in Slytherin but she's not a death Eater. She married Ted Tonks and had Nymphadora –"

"_Don't call me Nymphadora!_"

"– here. She was in Slytherin because she knew what she wanted and would do anything to get it."

Sirius nodded. "I was surprised when Andi was sorted into Slytherin. Then I remembered how vicious she could be. I suppose that's how you become growing up with Bellatrix as an older sister."

"And my mother," Malfoy interjected.

Sirius snorted. "Narcissa wasn't like Bellatrix at all. Sure she could be mean but that's all. Bellatrix was feral. _She _would kick, scream, shout, curse and hex anyone near her in a tantrum. I would know. One time your mother, Malfoy, got too close to her figurine of Voldemort while my family was over at hers for a dinner party and I ended up having a cut above my lip, a black eye, a broken nose and a scar across my chest which I've still got."

Everyone stared at Sirius with horror. "And now she's escaped from Azkaban," Harry murmured.

**While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rule-breaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the House Cup, a great honour. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours.**

**"The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting."**

**Her eyes lingered for a moment on Neville's cloak, which was fastened under his left ear, and on Ron's smudged nose. Harry nervously tried to flatten his hair.**

"You should know by now, Harry, that that's not going to work," grinned James.

**"I shall return when we are ready for you," said Professor McGonagall. "Please wait quietly."**

**She left the chamber. Harry swallowed.**

**"How exactly do they sort us into houses?" he asked Ron.**

**"Some sort of test, I think. Fred said it hurts a lot, but I think he was joking."**

"Of course I was you nitwit."

**Harry's heart gave a horrible jolt. A test? In front of the whole school? But he didn't know any magic yet – what on earth would he have to do? He hadn't expected something like this the moment they arrived. He looked around anxiously and saw that everyone else looked terrified, too. No one was talking much except Hermione Granger, who was whispering very fast about all the spells she'd learned and wondering which one she'd need. **

Ron just rolled his eyes.

**Harry tried hard not to listen to her. He'd never been more nervous, never, not even when he'd had to take a school report home to the Dursleys saying that he'd somehow turned his teacher's wig blue. **

James roared with laughter. "Good one Harry!"

**He kept his eyes fixed on the door. Any second now, Professor McGonagall would come back and lead him to his doom.**

"Now that's exaggerating," McGonagall sniffed.

**Then something happened that made him jump about a foot in the air –several people behind him screamed.**

"Oh, dear Merlin, what is it?" Sirius whispered. "Who would want to attack children?"

"Voldemort," replied Harry. Everyone stared at him with horror.

"But Voldemort isn't in that room, is he?" Lily asked, fear etched over her face.

Harry laughed. "No, of course not." The room relaxed once more.

"But you just said –" Sirius protested.

"I meant – oh, forget it."

**"What the –?"**

**He gasped. So did the people around him. About twenty ghosts had just streamed through the back wall. **

"_Ghosts?_ You got me worked up for _ghosts_?" Sirius spat.

**Pearly-white and slightly transparent, they glided across the room talking to one another and hardly glancing at the first-years. They seemed to be arguing. What looked like a fat little monk was saying, "Forgive and forget, I say, we ought to give him a second chance –"**

**"My dear Friar, haven't we given Peeves all the chances he deserves? He gives us all a bad name and you know, he's not really even a ghost – I say, what are you all doing here?"**

**A ghost wearing a ruff and tights had suddenly noticed the first-years.**

**Nobody answered.**

**"New students!" said the Fat Friar, smiling around at them. "About to be Sorted, I suppose?"**

**A few people nodded mutely.**

**"Hope to see you in Hufflepuff!" said the Friar. "My old house, you know."**

**"Move along now," said a sharp voice. "The Sorting Ceremony's about to start."**

"I've always loved the Sorting Ceremony," said Lily.

"I've only been present for three out of five," Harry told her.

She frowned. "Where were you?"

"Well, obviously, first year I was there. Then second year, well, I'm sure we'll read about that so I won't tell you now. Third year, Professor McGonagall wanted to talk to me and Hermione so we missed the sorting and I was there for fourth year and this year."

**Professor McGonagall had returned. One by one, the ghosts floated away through the opposite wall.**

**"Now, form a line," Professor McGonagall told the first-years, "and follow me."**

**Feeling oddly as though his legs had turned to lead, Harry got into line behind a boy with sandy hair, with Ron behind him, and they walked out of the chamber, back across the hall and through a pair of double doors into the Great Hall.**

**Harry had never even imagined such a strange and splendid place. **

"That first sight is quite brilliant," Dumbledore agreed.

**It was lit by thousands and thousands of candles that were floating in mid-air over four long tables, where the rest of the students were sitting. These tables were laid with glittering golden plates and goblets. At the top of the Hall was another long table where the teachers were sitting. Professor McGonagall led the first-years up here, so that they came to a halt in a line facing the other students, with the teachers behind them. The hundreds of faces staring at them looked like pale lanterns in the flickering candlelight. Dotted here and there among the students, the ghosts shone misty silver. Mainly to avoid all the staring eyes, Harry looked upward and saw a velvety black ceiling dotted with stars. He heard Hermione whisper, "It's bewitched to look like the sky outside, I read about it in _Hogwarts: A History_."**

"Of course you did," Sirius said.

**It was hard to believe there was a ceiling there at all, and that the Great Hall didn't simply open on to the heavens.**

**Harry quickly looked down again as Professor McGonagall silently placed a four-legged stool in front of the first-years. On top of the stool she put a pointed wizard's hat. This hat was patched and frayed and extremely dirty. Aunt Petunia wouldn't have let it in the house.**

Lily snorted. "Petunia wouldn't let _anything_ magical in the house. She used to scream at me when I came back from Hogwarts."

**Maybe they had to try and get a rabbit out of it, **

James looked confused. "Why would you try to get a rabbit out of the Sorting Hat?"

"Muggles do what they call "magic tricks" where they pull rabbits out of hats, do card tricks. Stuff like that," Harry explained.

**Harry thought wildly, that seemed the sort of thing – noticing that everyone in the Hall was now staring at the hat, he stared at it too. For a few seconds, there was complete silence. Then the hat twitched. A rip near the brim opened wide like a mouth – and the hat began to sing:**

** _"Oh, you may not think I'm pretty,  
But don't judge on what you see,  
I'll eat myself if you can find  
A smarter hat than me.  
You can keep your bowlers black,  
Your top hats sleek and tall,  
For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat  
And I can cap them all.  
There's nothing hidden in your head  
The Sorting Hat can't see,  
So try me on and I will tell you  
Where you ought to be.  
You might belong in Gryffindor,  
Where dwell the brave at heart,  
Their daring, nerve and chivalry  
Set Gryffindors apart;  
You might belong in Hufflepuff,  
Where they are just and loyal,  
Those patient Hufflepuffs are true  
And unafraid of toil;  
Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,  
if you've a ready mind,  
Where those of wit and learning,  
Will always find their kind;  
Or perhaps in Slytherin  
You'll make your real friends,  
Those cunning folk use any means  
To achieve their ends.  
So put me on! Don't be afraid!  
And don't get in a flap!  
You're in safe hands (though I have none)  
For I'm a Thinking Cap!"_**

**The whole Hall burst into applause as the hat finished its song. It bowed to each of the four tables and then became quite still again.**

**"So we've just got to try on the hat!" Ron whispered to Harry. "I'll kill Fred, he was going on about wrestling a troll."**

"Well, you haven't killed me yet, little brother," Fred smirked.

"One day Fred… one day."

**Harry smiled weakly. Yes, trying on the hat was a lot better than having to do a spell, but he did wish they could have tried it on without everyone watching. The hat seemed to be asking rather a lot; Harry didn't feel brave or quick-witted or any of it at the moment. If only the hat had mentioned a house for people who felt a bit queasy, that would have been the one for him.**

Everyone boomed with laughter at that.

**Professor McGonagall now stepped forward holding a long roll of parchment.**

**"When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted," she said. "Abbott, Hannah!"**

"I like Hannah," Neville said distantly. "She's nice."

**A pink-faced girl with blonde pigtails stumbled out of line, put on the hat, which fell right down over her eyes, and sat down. A moment's pause –**

**"HUFFLEPUFF!" shouted the hat.**

**The table on the right cheered and clapped as Hannah went to sit down at the Hufflepuff table. Harry saw the ghost of the Fat Friar waving merrily at her.**

**"Bones, Susan!"**

**"HUFFLEPUFF!" shouted the hat again, and Susan scuttled off to sit next to Hannah.**

**"Boot, Terry!"**

**"RAVENCLAW!"**

**The table second from the left clapped this time; several Ravenclaws stood up to shake hands with Terry as he joined them.**

**"Brocklehurst, Mandy" went to Ravenclaw too, but "Brown, Lavender" became the first new Gryffindor, and the table on the far left exploded with cheers; Harry could see Ron's twin brothers catcalling.**

Hermione rolled her eyes. "She's a bit ditzy that one. Loves Divination. Though I would have thought Parvati straightened her up again but she's a bit wonky too."

"Hermione," Harry said, "why don't you ever talk with the other girls in Gryffindor?"

Hermione huffed angrily. "Well, I tried to talk to Lavender and Parvati in our first year before Hallowe'en but they're always giggling about the silliest things and Lily Moon and Sally-Anne Perks, well, they were best friends as soon as we sat down at the Gryffindor table. Besides I have you two."

"When Ron's not being an idiot," joked Harry.

"And when you're not siding with him," Hermione said with her eyebrows raised.

**"Bulstrode, Millicent" then became a Slytherin. Perhaps it was Harry's imagination, after all he'd heard about Slytherin, but he thought they looked like an unpleasant lot. **

"Millicent Bulstrode definitely is," Hermione muttered. "And her cat."

**He was starting to feel definitely sick now. He remembered being picked for teams during sport lessons at his old school. He had always been last to be chosen, not because he was no good, but because no one wanted Dudley to think they liked him.**

**"Finch-Fletchley, Justin!"**

**"HUFFLEPUFF!"**

**Sometimes, Harry noticed, the hat shouted out the house at once, but at others it took a little while to decide. "Finnigan, Seamus," the sandy-haired boy next to Harry in the line, sat on the stool for almost a whole minute before the hat declared him a Gryffindor.**

"Should've been a Slytherin, the traitor," Ron snarled.

"Seamus isn't _that_ bad," Neville said before backing down at Harry and Ron's glares.

**"Granger, Hermione!"**

**Hermione almost ran to the stool and jammed the hat eagerly on her head.**

**"GRYFFINDOR!" shouted the hat. Ron groaned.**

"That's not nice Ronald," Mrs Weasley scolded.

**A horrible thought struck Harry, as horrible thoughts always do when you're very nervous. What if he wasn't chosen at all? What if he just sat there with the hat over his eyes for ages, until Professor McGonagall jerked it off his head and said there had obviously been a mistake and he'd better get back on the train?**

"I doubt that would've happened, Mr Potter," said McGonagall.

**When Neville Longbottom, the boy who kept losing his toad, was called, he fell over on his way to the stool. The hat took a long time to decide with Neville. When it finally shouted, "GRYFFINDOR," **

"You know I didn't want to be in Gryffindor," Neville confessed. "I wanted to be put in Hufflepuff because I'm not brave and that's why my Patronus is a badger; I'm still partial to Hufflepuff. Oh, and I was scared of Gryffindor's reputation for being brave."

**Neville ran off still wearing it, and had to jog back amid gales of laughter to give it to "MacDougal, Morag."**

**Malfoy swaggered forward when his name was called and got his wish at once: the hat had barely touched his head when it screamed, "SLYTHERIN!"**

"Your father would've been proud," James said, eyeing Malfoy nastily.

**Malfoy went to join his friends Crabbe and Goyle, looking pleased with himself.**

**There weren't many people left now. "Moon"… "Nott"… "Parkinson"… then a pair of twin girls, "Patil" and "Patil"… then "Perks, Sally-Anne"… and then, at last – "Potter, Harry!"**

**As Harry stepped forward, whispers suddenly broke out like little hissing fires all over the hall.**

**"_Potter_, did she say?"**

**"_The _Harry Potter?"**

**The last thing Harry saw before the hat dropped over his eyes was the Hall full of people craning to get a good look at him. Next second he was looking at the black inside of the hat. He waited.**

_Oh no_, Harry thought, _they'll hear how the hat wanted to put me in Slytherin!_

**Hmm," said a small voice in his ear. "Difficult. Very difficult. Plenty of courage, I see. Not a bad mind either. There's talent, oh my goodness, yes – and a nice thirst to prove yourself, now that's interesting... So where shall I put you?"**

**Harry gripped the edges of the stool and thought, "Not Slytherin, not Slytherin."**

**"Not Slytherin, eh?" said the small voice. "Are you sure? You could be great, you know, it's all here in your head, and Slytherin will help you on the way to greatness, no doubt about that – **

"Oh Merlin!" Sirius cried. "It was going to put you in Slytherin!"

"Don't listen to him Harry," said Lily. "We would love you all the same."

James smiled. "Well, to be truthful I wouldn't be _that_ happy –"

"_James!_"

"– but I'd get over it eventually. Being a Slytherin doesn't make you a bad person, it's just if you decide to act on all that hate being directed to you, which I'm sure you wouldn't do."

Harry beamed at his parents happily. "Thanks."

**no? Well, if you're sure – better be GRYFFINDOR!"**

The room cheered and clapped.

**Harry heard the hat shout the last word to the whole Hall. He took off the hat and walked shakily toward the Gryffindor table. He was so relieved to have been chosen and not put in Slytherin, he hardly noticed that he was getting the loudest cheer yet. Percy the Prefect got up and shook his hand vigorously, while the Weasley twins yelled, "We got Potter! We got Potter!" Harry sat down opposite the ghost in the ruff he'd seen earlier. The ghost patted his arm, giving Harry the sudden, horrible feeling he'd just plunged it into a bucket of ice-cold water.**

Remus shuddered. "I hate that feeling. Not as bad as turning into a werewolf but still…"

**He could see the High Table properly now. At the end nearest him sat Hagrid, who caught his eye and gave him the thumbs-up. Harry grinned back. And there, in the centre of the High Table, in a large gold chair, sat Albus Dumbledore. Harry recognized him at once from the card he'd gotten out of the Chocolate Frog on the train. Dumbledore's silver hair was the only thing in the whole hall that shone as brightly as the ghosts. Harry spotted Professor Quirrell, too, the nervous young man from the Leaky Cauldron. He was looking very peculiar in a large purple turban.**

**And now there were only three people left to be sorted. "Turpin, Lisa" became a Ravenclaw and then it was Ron's turn. He was pale green by now. Harry crossed his fingers under the table and a second later the hat had shouted, "GRYFFINDOR!"**

**Harry clapped loudly with the rest as Ron collapsed into the chair next to him.**

**"Well done, Ron, excellent," said Percy Weasley pompously across Harry as "Zabini, Blaise" was made a Slytherin. **

Fred and George made retching noises while James and Sirius laughed and Hermione rolled her eyes.

**Professor McGonagall rolled up her scroll and took the Sorting Hat away.**

**Harry looked down at his empty gold plate. He had only just realized how hungry he was. The pumpkin pasties seemed ages ago.**

**Albus Dumbledore had gotten to his feet. He was beaming at the students, his arms opened wide, as if nothing could have pleased him more than to see them all there.**

Dumbledore smiled serenely. "It is one of my favourite things to see. All of you, happy to be back and see friends and start a new year of learning."

**"Welcome," he said. "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!**

**"Thank you!"**

**He sat back down. Everybody clapped and cheered. Harry didn't know whether to laugh or not.**

**"Is he – a bit mad?" **

"Sorry sir," Harry looked down while a blush crept on his cheeks.

Dumbledore chuckled. "That's quite alright, Harry. I've had far worse. Being called mad is in a daily routine for me."

**he asked Percy uncertainly.**

**"Mad?" said Percy airily. "He's a genius! Best wizard in the world! But he is a bit mad, yes. Potatoes, Harry?"**

**Harry's mouth fell open. The dishes in front of him were now piled with food. He had never seen so many things he liked to eat on one table: roast beef, roast chicken, pork chops and lamb chops, sausages, bacon and steak, boiled potatoes, roast potatoes, chips, Yorkshire pudding, peas, carrots, gravy, ketchup, and, for some strange reason, peppermint humbugs.**

**The Dursleys had never exactly starved Harry, **

Mrs Weasley sniffed. "By the looks of you, they do. That's what you need, Harry, some fattening up."

**but he'd never been allowed to eat as much as he liked. Dudley had always taken anything that Harry really wanted, even if it made him sick. Harry piled his plate with a bit of everything except the peppermints and began to eat. It was all delicious.**

**"That does look good," said the ghost in the ruff sadly, watching Harry cut up his steak,**

**"Can't you –?"**

**I haven't eaten for nearly five hundred years," said the ghost. "I don't need to, of course, but one does miss it. I don't think I've in troduced myself? Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington **

"_Really_, who's going to call him that?" Sirius asked no one in particular. "The closest I've heard is Sir Nicholas or Sir Nick."

**at your service. Resident ghost of Gryffindor Tower."**

**"I know who you are!" said Ron suddenly. "My brothers told me about you –you're Nearly Headless Nick!"**

"Nice one Ron," said George.

"Yeah, blame it all on us, why don't you?" Fred asked.

**"I would _prefer_ you to call me Sir Nicholas de Mimsy –" the ghost began stiffly, but sandy-haired Seamus Finnigan interrupted.**

**"_Nearly_ Headless? How can you be _nearly_ headless?"**

**Sir Nicholas looked extremely miffed, as if their little chat wasn't going at all the way he wanted.**

**"Like _this_," he said irritably. He seized his left ear and pulled. His whole head swung off his neck and fell onto his shoulder as if it was on a hinge. **

Lily shuddered. "I remember when I saw him do that for the first time."

James let out a bellowing laugh. "I think the whole Great Hall remembers that Lily!"

"Ah, yes. I remember that," Remus joined in. "It was the first morning and Sirius was fooling around, pretending to cut Nick's head all the way off when Lily walked in and said, "What _are_ you doing? He's just a ghost, leave him alone!"–"

"I _do not_ talk like that!"

"And Nick chuckled and said to Lily, "It's quite alright, they're cheering me up because once again I have been rebuffed by the Headless Hunt." To which Lily replied, "Well, you're not headless." Then Nick showed her his nearly decapitated head and Lily got the fright of her life and screamed so loudly that one of the early owls fainted."

Laughter erupted all around and Lily blushed profusely. "Alright, alright. Stop laughing. Tonks, please keep reading."

**Someone had obviously tried to behead him, but not done it properly. Looking pleased at the stunned looks on their faces, Nearly Headless Nick flipped his head back onto his neck, coughed and said, "So – new Gryffindors! I hope you're going to help us win the house championship this year? Gryffindor have never gone so long without winning. Slytherin have got the cup six years in a row! The Bloody Baron's becoming almost unbearable – he's the Slytherin ghost."**

**Harry looked over at the Slytherin table and saw a horrible ghost sitting there, with blank staring eyes, a gaunt face and robes stained with silver blood. He was right next to Malfoy who, Harry was pleased to see, didn't look too pleased with the seating arrangements.**

James and Sirius grinned.

**"How did he get covered in blood?" asked Seamus with great interest.**

**"I've never asked," said Nearly Headless Nick delicately.**

**When everyone had eaten as much as they could, the remains of the food faded from the plates, leaving them sparkling clean as before. A moment later the desserts appeared. Blocks of ice-cream in every flavour you could think of, apple pies, treacle tarts, chocolate éclairs and jam doughnuts, trifle, strawberries, jelly, rice pudding… **

"Mmmm…" Ron rubbed his stomach.

**As Harry helped himself to a treacle tart, the talk turned to their families.**

**"I'm half and half," said Seamus. "Me dad's a Muggle. Mam didn't tell him she was a witch 'til after they were married. Bit of a nasty shock for him."**

**The others laughed.**

**"What about you, Neville?" said Ron.**

**"Well, my gran brought me up and she's a witch," said Neville, "but the family thought I was all Muggle for ages. My great-uncle Algie kept trying to catch me off my guard and force some magic out of me – he pushed me off the end of Blackpool pier once, I nearly drowned – but nothing happened until I was eight. Great-uncle Algie came round for tea and he was hanging me out of an upstairs window by the ankles when my great-auntie Enid offered him a meringue and he accidentally let go. But I bounced – all the way down the garden and into the road. They were all really pleased. Gran was crying, she was so happy. And you should have seen their faces when I got in here – they thought I might not be magic enough to come, you see. Great-uncle Algie was so pleased he bought me my toad."**

**On Harry's other side, Percy Weasley and Hermione were talking about lessons ("I _do_ hope they start right away, there's so much to learn, I'm particularly interested in Transfiguration, you know, turning something into something else, of course, it's supposed to be very difficult –"; "You'll be starting small, just matches into needles and that sort of thing –").**

**Harry, who was starting to feel warm and sleepy, looked up at the High Table again. Hagrid was drinking deeply from his goblet. **

"Naturally," grinned Sirius.

**Professor McGonagall was talking to Professor Dumbledore. Professor Quirrell, in his absurd turban, was talking to a teacher with greasy black hair, a hooked nose and sallow skin.**

Sirius gasped. "Harry! You're being too nice! That surely can't be a description for _Snivellus_!"

**It happened very suddenly. The hook-nosed teacher looked past Quirrell's turban straight into Harry's eyes – and a sharp, hot pain shot across the scar on Harry's forehead.**

Lily's forehead creased. "Why would that happen?"

"I have my theories," said Dumbledore.

"How many this time?" Remus asked, a smile playing on his lips.

"Oh, not too many, just fifty or so."

**"Ouch!" Harry clapped a hand to his head.**

**"What is it?" asked Percy.**

**"N-nothing."**

**The pain had gone as quickly as it had come. Harder to shake off was the feeling Harry had gotten from the teacher's look – a feeling that he didn't like Harry at all.**

**"Who's that teacher talking to Professor Quirrell?" he asked Percy.**

**"Oh, you know Quirrell already, do you? No wonder he's looking so nervous, that's Professor Snape. He teaches Potions, but he doesn't want to – everyone knows he's after Quirrell's job. Knows an awful lot about the Dark Arts, Snape."**

"Well, maybe it's because he was a _Death Eater_!" Sirius implied.

"I would appreciate it if you wouldn't talk about my past like that!" snarled Snape.

"Like what?" Sirius jeered. "Like the _truth_? That sounds about right, hey, Snivelly? I'll just do this and when Lily turns up I'll blame it all on Potter and Black! Typical Snivellus. Dirty, rotten, _lying_ bat."

"Calm down Sirius," Remus told him. "Tonks, please continue."

** Harry watched Snape for a while, but Snape didn't look at him again.**

**At last, the desserts too disappeared and Professor Dumbledore got to his feet again. The Hall fell silent.**

**"Ahem – just a few more words now that we are all fed and watered. I have a few start-of-term notices to give you.**

**"First years should note that the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all pupils. And a few of our older students would do well to remember that as well."**

**Dumbledore's twinkling eyes flashed in the direction of the Weasley twins.**

Fred and George high-fived

**"I have also been asked by Mr Filch, the caretaker, to remind you all that no magic should be used between classes in the corridors.**

"Oh, stuff Filch," Ron muttered.

**"Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of the term. Anyone interested in playing for their house teams should contact Madam Hooch.**

**"And finally, I must tell you that this year, the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death."**

"And let me guess, Harry goes there?" James guessed.

"You'll see," was his reply.

**Harry laughed, but he was one of the few who did.**

**"He's not serious?" he muttered to Percy.**

**"Must be," said Percy, frowning at Dumbledore. "It's odd, because he usually gives us a reason why we're not allowed to go somewhere – the forest's full of dangerous beasts, everyone knows that. I do think he might have told us Prefects, at least."**

**"And now, before we go to bed, let us sing the school song!" cried Dumbledore. Harry noticed that the other teachers' smiles had become rather fixed.**

"Do you not like the school song?" asked Dumbledore, his face crumpling slightly.

"Don't be silly, Albus! If I remember correctly, I helped you make the new school song," McGonagall protested.

"So you did. Severus?"

"Music is not one of my joys, Headmaster," Snape muttered.

**Dumbledore gave his wand a little flick as if he was trying to get a fly off the end and a long golden ribbon flew out of it, which rose high above the tables and twisted itself snake-like into words.**

**"Everyone pick their favorite tune," said Dumbledore, "and off we go!" **

**And the school bellowed:**

** _"Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts,  
Teach us something please,  
Whether we be old and bald  
Or young with scabby knees  
Our heads could do with filling  
With some interesting stuff,  
For now they're bare and full of air,  
Dead flies and bits of fluff,  
So teach us things worth knowing,  
Bring back what we've forgot,  
Just do your best, we'll do the rest,  
And learn until our brains all rot."_**

**Everybody finished the song at different times. At last, only the Weasley twins were left singing along to a very slow funeral march. Dumbledore conducted their last few lines with his wand and when they had finished, he was one of those who clapped loudest.**

**"Ah, music," he said, wiping his eyes. "A magic beyond all we do here! And now, bedtime. Off you trot!"**

**The Gryffindor first-years followed Percy through the chattering crowds, out of the Great Hall and up the marble staircase. Harry's legs were like lead again, but only because he was so tired and full of food. He was too sleepy even to be surprised that the people in the portraits along the corridors whispered and pointed as they passed, or that twice Percy led them through doorways hidden behind sliding panels and hanging tapestries. They climbed more staircases, yawning and dragging their feet, and Harry was just wondering how much further they had to go when they came to a sudden halt.**

**A bundle of walking sticks was floating in mid-air ahead of them and as Percy took a step toward them they started throwing themselves at him.**

James and Sirius grinned at each other. "Peeves!"

**"Peeves," Percy whispered to the first-years. "A poltergeist." He raised his voice, "Peeves – show yourself"**

**A loud, rude sound, like the air being let out of a balloon, answered.**

**"Do you want me to go to the Bloody Baron?"**

**There was a _pop_ and a little man with wicked, dark eyes and a wide mouth appeared, floating cross-legged in the air, clutching the walking sticks.**

**"Oooooooh!" he said, with an evil cackle. "Ickle firsties! What fun!"**

**He swooped suddenly at them. They all ducked.**

**"Go away, Peeves, or the Baron'll hear about this, I mean it!" barked Percy.**

**Peeves stuck out his tongue and vanished, dropping the walking sticks on Neville's head. **

Neville sighed. "Why me?"

**They heard him zooming away, rattling coats of armour as he passed.**

**"You want to watch out for Peeves," said Percy, as they set off again. "The Bloody Baron's the only one who can control him, he won't even listen to us Prefects. Here we are."**

**At the very end of the corridor hung a portrait of a very fat woman in a pink silk dress.**

"Can portraits eat?" Harry asked.

Hermione thought about that before saying, "I don't know –"

"Oh, the horror! Hermione doesn't know!" Fred chuckled.

"– I must go to the library and find out though."

**"Password?" she said. **

**"_Caput Draconis_," said Percy, and the portrait swung forward to reveal a round hole in the wall. They all scrambled through it – Neville needed a leg up – and found themselves in the Gryffindor common room, a cosy, round room full of squashy armchairs.**

**Percy directed the girls through one door to their dormitory and the boys through another. At the top of a spiral staircase – they were obviously in one of the towers – they found their beds at last: five four-posters hung with deep-red, velvet curtains. Their trunks had already been brought up. Too tired to talk much, they pulled on their pyjamas and fell into bed.**

**"Great food, isn't it?" Ron muttered to Harry through the hangings. "Get _off_, Scabbers! He's chewing my sheets."**

**Harry was going to ask Ron if he'd had any of the treacle tart, but he fell asleep almost at once.**

**Perhaps Harry had eaten a bit too much, because he had a very strange dream. He was wearing Professor Quirrell's turban, which kept talking to him, telling him he must transfer to Slytherin at once, because it was his destiny. Harry told the turban he didn't want to be in Slytherin; it got heavier and heavier; he tried to pull it off but it tightened painfully – and there was Malfoy, laughing at him as he struggled with it – then Malfoy turned into the hook-nosed teacher, Snape, whose laugh became high and cold – there was a burst of green light and Harry woke, sweating and shaking.**

Ron frowned. "You didn't tell me about that."

**He rolled over and fell asleep again, and when he woke next day, he didn't remember the dream at all.**

"That'd be why," Harry replied.

"Anyway," said Tonks. "That's the end of the chapter. I think you'll enjoy the chapter, Severus." She threw the book at him, hard and fast. He caught it with just a flick of his wrist.

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